Thoughts about a friend, Marguerita Kiser
I first met Marguerita Kiser at a CEDIA regional expo in Philadelphia with her co-worker Larry Schatz when they worked for Xantech. Then a short time later Lars Granoe from URC asked me about her and she was hired to work for URC. And work she did, traveling, conducting live technical training meetings, dealer and distributor meetings, trade shows and running half the URC sales force. She was a powerful person who always wanted to excel in her job. During the early growth phase of URC’s custom/professional division she worked with Eric Johnson and me on the road meeting dealers.
She loved her husband Steve who until recently ran a modeling agency. She would look at a young lady and point out things that someone without a critical eye would never notice. Guys at trade shows would always be tripping over themselves looking at the “booth babes” and I would get the full report from Marguerita. Marguerita and her husband Steve also loved to go bass fishing having many tournaments in their past on Lake Oroville and would go every Saturday they could.
I woud always laugh at her pet phrases such as the famous “Jeez, Louise”. I remember her driving her Camaro. She loved her five cats and her house in Palmdale CA. She would see me and say “Hey you” every time we met. She was the polar opposite of me, tall, thin attractive and healthy living.
Marguerita was known to many Los Angeles area consumer electronics veterans going back to the Marantz/SuperScope days. When we went to major trade shows such as CES, CEDIA and the old EH Expos I would always laugh at how many different ways people would say her name. I asked her one time if that bothered her and she said “No, just as long as they remember me”. Marguerita was one of the few people who knew so many people at trade shows that many times she would have to introduce me.
She was a creature of habit who liked scheduled events, her weekly Friday afternoon lunch with her husband Steve at their favorite Mexican restaurant where she would order the taco salad and frozen Margarita drink. I remember how she worked together with some of the most powerful sales rep companies in the consumer electronics business. Many people outside the US also knew her when she covered New Zealand and Australia. Marguerita would travel to Hilo, Hawaii to visit her parents who lived there for a time.
We worked closely when URC was a much smaller company. She would always ask me to pick out a nice glass of wine for her when we had any dinner meetings or events. Not an adventurous eater I would always laugh when we looked at the menu.
I first heard the news this afternoon (May 17, 2016) and was shocked. Marguerita was among the small core group of strong women in an industry dominated by men. She had strong relationships with hundreds of dealers and thousands of people. When you lose a friend it forces you to look back at how much we did together and all the hard work and good times. I spent a week with Marguerita in December 2014 for URC training meetings in Phoenix AZ. We would work all day and then go out to dinner at night. I am sure that many longtime friends have their own favorite Marguerita story. She was one of a kind, a special lady who we will remember fondly and miss greatly.
Hank Eisengrein
