2022 RETA Breeze Nov-Dec

THE REFRIGERATION HISTORIAN VOLUME XXXI West coast refrigeration engineers of the classic era hold a special place in refrigeration history. Hayes T. Cory is certainly one of this rare breed.

Hayes was born in the city of Oakland, California. July 7, 1906. His family relocated to the city of Angels, Los Angeles, California in 1912. A true Californian, Hayes graduated from Hollywood High School. Mr. Cory was college educated at the University of California, Berkley campus. Upon graduation, Hayes worked at several engineering jobs. Even a stint at the famous Paramount Pictures. Eventually Mr. Cory settled at The Baker Ice Machine Company as an Engineer. His stint of service started in 1935 and progressed through several positions. He received a promotion and relocation arriving in the San Joaquin Valley of California as The Baker Ice Machine’s Supervisor of activities for the area. His duties included system design and construction supervision of installation of Baker machines of various sizes. Hayes asked for and received a leave of absence to help in the war effort. He served our country as an engineer at the Boeing Aircraft Corporation of Seattle, Washington. He assisted in modifications to the heating and supercharger systems of both the B-17 and B-29 aircraft. Near the close of the war in 1943, Mr. Cory returned to his Duties with Baker. In 1945 another promotion and relocation. This time a triumphant return to Los Angeles as the Director of San Francisco Operations. While building his Career, Hayes devoted much to the industry. Serving as a leader of the Air Conditioning Association of Southern California including serving on the Board of Directors. He assisted with labor relations, technical training, and innovation. Hayes was a very active member of The National Association of Practical Refrigeration Engineers (NAPRAE), Los Angeles Chapter. He held many offices through the year. Mr. Cory’s list of accomplishments is far shorter than it could have been. Among them are the advances in the design of Baker’s line of Refrigeration Machines and advances in military aircraft. Perhaps my favorite of Hayes Cory accomplishments is the drafting of the Los Angeles Refrigeration Code.

Hayes Cory would be called before our lord May 9th, 1952. At the age of 46. Far too young, with so much ahead of him, our industry will always wonder at. what could have been. Information for this article included information from Ice and Refrigeration Illustrated, Industrial Refrigeration magazine, and various newspaper articles. The information used to generate this article is believed factual. Should you have any corrections or additional information pertaining to this article please forward them to the editor. The Refrigeration Historian wanders around his extensive refrigeration library, lamenting on Refrigeration History, and socializing with “Molly”, Varmint eradicator of the archives.

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