Henri Jaquet
Henri Jaquet
Keywords: Obituary
I first met Henri Jaquet about 35 years ago, as a printed circuit supplier to my then employer. At that time, he had a fairly small, but well-equipped,enterprise on the Quai de Seujet, a condemned slum area on the banks of the Rhône,in Geneva, Switzerland. He impressed me as a knowledgeable man, quite loquacious, and with a certain charm. As I came to know him better, I realised that he was also a deeply sensitive and generous person. We often explored the gastronomic delights of Geneva and killed a bottle of excellent wine between us. A few years later, he was forced to move his company to a purpose-built factory at La Praille, which allowed him also to expand his production in both quantity and quality. Here, he obtained a reputation as being the best PCB manufacturer in W. Switzerland. As business expanded, his son and son-in-law helped the enterprise to grow, allowing him some time to devote to another enterprise,making surgical prosthetic devices. After later moving to Plan-les-Ouates, on the outskirts of Geneva, Henri Jaquet decided to concentrate on producing high-tech prototypes and small batches, in view of the increasing competition for production quantities from outside Switzerland, while acting as a broker for a small number of other quality fabricators. A disastrous fire later destroyed all the production facilities. The company continued the broking side of the business. Henri Jaquet retired from the business a few years ago.
He left this world a better place for his presence on 20 March 2003 after a long fight with lung cancer. He always had a large entourage of friends and he will be sorely missed by them and his extended family, to whom we send our deepest sympathy. Perhaps too-often quoted, but Shakespeare must have had the likes of Henri Jaquet in mind when he wrote:
He only in a general honestthought And common good to all, made one of them. His life was gentle, and the elements So mixed in him that Nature might stand upAnd say to all the world,“This was a man!”
Although our paths have not crossed for a number of years, I shall miss him.
Brian Ellis
