Frederick H. Bentzel, Jr.
October 01, 2021
Visitation: Saturday, October 30, 2021, 9:30-10:30 am; Devlin Funeral Home of Cranberry
Service: Saturday, October 30, 2021, 10:45 am; Devlin Funeral Home of Cranberry
Frederick H. Bentzel, Jr. of Harmony, PA joined his heavenly father on October 1,2021 at the forever young age of 66. Frederick is the beloved husband of Carol Jean (CJ) who will miss holding his hand, hearing his distinctive voice, sharing life and laughter. He is the devoted father of Frederick Bentzel III, Margaret Bentzel, Alexander (Chelsey) White and Zachary (Tina) White, who will cherish fond memories of their loving father, teacher, provider and pal. He is survived by his grand dog Tank, five sisters-in-law, three brothers-in law, nieces, nephews and valued friends who will remember him mostly by his gentleness, smile and encouraging words.
Known as “Rick” by family/some friends and “Fred” by most clients/colleagues, Fred-Rick began life’s journey in Clarksburg, WV where he lived with his parents Frederick Sr. and Ida May Zoller until age five. Afterward, the family moved to Churchill, PA where Fred-Rick resided until attending Penn State University, where he earned a BS in business logistics and a minor in landscape architecture.
Fred began his 15-year career with Alcoa. His accomplishments include development of a proprietary production planning system for Alcoa’s largest alumina chemical factory and redesign of related processes that improved on-time shipping performance from 60% to 99+%. He transitioned to a worldwide financial auditor of Alcoa’s global Metals and Chemicals Business Unit, Corporate Office and R&D for 4.5 years.
While at Alcoa, Fred trained and was certified in process improvement and quality performance at RummlerBrache and the Juran Institute. Here is where Fred caught the consulting “bug.” He became part of Alcoa’s corporate quality group and benchmarked best practice organizations worldwide to support the CEO’s goal of improving Alcoa’s performance by an order of magnitude. He applied this learning to improve all facets of business including order-to-cash, customer satisfaction and financial closings.
In 1990, he resigned from Alcoa and joined William M. Mercer to test his consultative skills and to develop his selling skills with external clients. Here, Fred successfully pioneered the startup of a business process improvement consulting practice, which grew exponentially over five years.
He didn’t stop there. In 1995, Fred pioneered the startup of 10xSolutions and invented the 10x Value Creation® methodology designed to leverage a company’s people, process, and technology investments. His team utilized a facilitated approach to resolve mission-critical issues and close performance gaps in areas of human capital management, operations, order fulfillment, supply chain, and customer relations.
His firm served mid-sized companies, conducting business in 36 states, three Canadian provinces and Western Europe. Fred’s philosophy always has been to provide solutions without hype or inflated claims. Through his brilliant leadership and business acumen, the firm has provided clients with 10x to more than 100x return on their investment when prescribed tools and solutions were properly applied.
Rick was a man of integrity who cherished fatherhood including father-daughter dances, Indian Guides and crafting with his kids. He took pleasure in the great outdoors including long hikes, kayaking, white-water rafting, ATVing, and horseback riding with his family. Rick was an avid golfer, beginning at the early age of four. He was an enthusiastic gardener and constantly helped others with landscape design. Rick was passionate about serving youth groups, children with special needs, local food banks and others in the community. He was a mentor to people of all ages and the very best kind of friend.
Visitation with family members, followed by a memorial service, will be held at Devlin Funeral Home of Cranberry, 2678 Rochester Road, Cranberry Twp. The family has two requests to honor Fred-Rick: Dress comfortably and bring a personal note regarding a fond memory, encounter, “ah-ha” moment or good time you shared with Fred-Rick. Notes will be read later by family members at a private interment in celebration of his life. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Fred-Rick’s favorite charities: https://cityrescuemission.org/ New Castle, PA and https://www.lightoflife.org/ Pittsburgh, PA.
Heartfelt thanks to UPMC doctors, nurses, technicians and all who cared for Fred-Rick during his admission. Their sensitivity, compassion and support of our beloved was matchless in every way.
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My deepest sympathy to Carol and family in the loss of Rick. Rick was a great person. He was humble, personable, energetic and always willing to lend a helping hand. Rick, you are greatly missed. Enjoy the fruits of heaven with your creator, family, friends and Angels until we see you again. Much love to all. Sharon
I met Fred at Penn State back in 1975 while residing in Hamilton Hall. Fred was instrumental in convincing me to explore Business Logistics as a major at Penn State at a time when I was unsure about my career plans. Fred inspired me to become a better student and a better person. I will be forever grateful for his guidance, support and friendship during that critical period in my life.