Dave L. Tandy (1889-1966)

Tandy and business partner Norton Hinckley founded the Hinckley-Tandy Leather Company in 1919, which continued until their split in 1950. Dave and son Charles renamed their business as Tandy Leather Company. Dave retired in 1956, leaving the company in the hands of Charles.

Dave passed away December 21, 1966 at age 77.

Tandy began working at his father's leather company at age 12 & set up a mail order business after serving in the Navy in WWII. The company continued to grow until being reborn as the Tandy Corporation. In 1963, Tandy acquired many companies including Radio Shack, which grew to 1000's of store locations around the world.

Tandy died in his sleep from a heart attack at age 60.

Mr. Kornfeld began working for Radio Shack in 1948 and was appointed president in 1970. He was nationally known for getting Radio Shack into the personal computer business with the company's best-selling TRS-80. Mr. Kornfeld served as RadioShack Corp. president until 1981 and was a board member until 2003. 

He passed away in 2013, at the age of 97.

Roach and his family moved to Fort Worth when he was four. He graduated from TCU in 1961, and began his tenure at Tandy in 1967. He presented the TRS-80 Microcomputer prototype to Charles Tandy in 1977. Roach ultimately became CEO & Chairman in 1983, until his retirement in 1999.

Roach passed away on March 20, 2022.

"Mr. Radio Shack" led the helm during the heyday of the company which he helped to turn into a 2.3 billion dollar chain with more than 7,000 stores.

Appel passed away on April 2, 2017.

Nugent joined the Tandy Leather Company in 1952 as one of their first retail store managers. He moved to Fort Worth to help organize the Tandy Crafts section, ultimately becoming a VP of Tandy Corp, and Chairman/President of Tandy Crafts.

Bill passed away in 1988.

Frank Durda IV (respectfully referred to by associates & enthusiasts as "FDIV") joined the Tandy Corporation in 1982. He designed hardware or developed software for Models III, 4, 4P, 12, 16, 2000, 6000, and several MS-DOS based systems. He was a trusted, top resource of technical knowledge for most things Tandy.

Frank passed away in 2018.

Paul was a dedicated engineer at Tandy and worked on many projects ranging from the first TRS-80 Micro Computer, through the Tandy Sensation, the last computer designed in-house by Tandy. He designed the Moog MG-1 Synthesizer, worked on the Memorex Video Information System, and so much more. Always ready to share his knowledge with others, he will be missed by many around the world.

Paul passed away in 2025.

Similar to Charles Tandy, Bartly Betts worked with his father in their leather repair and saddle shop, before getting into technology in the early 1980s. He and his family moved to Fort Worth in 1984, where he became a technical writer for Tandy, primarily writing user manuals for the Color Computer and other systems. Bartly wrapped up his career with a stint at Microsoft in Seattle, before returning to Fort Worth for retirement.

Bartly passed away in 2023.

Beginning as a part-time sales maker at Radio Shack, he grew through the Company over the years & ultimately became the Division Vice President. 

Alan was selected to develop and run the Computer City retail chain where he held the roles of President and Chief Executive Officer. In less than five years, he led Computer City from launch to $2.1 billion in revenues - the second fastest growing retail company in US history (the first was Sam's Club).

Laurie held several roles at Radio Shack, beginning as a part time sales associate, then advancing to store manager, and District Manager. In the midst of her retail roles, she served twice as an Answer Team Captain, based in the National Sales Training department at Tandy HQ in Fort Worth. 

Laurie and her team provided training for the 7,000 stores via live satellite broadcasts and recorded videos. 

Look for Laurie's Answer Team videos on our Media Page.

During his 37 year tenure, Jerry designed everything from the "Green Thumb Box" (precursor to the TRS-80 Color Computer), firmware for modems and infrared remotes, and automated the Tandy Center lights using a proprietary network. 

A holder of a variety of patents, Jerry now resides in the suburbs of Fort Worth and is still working on projects such as the "Tandy Light Control 2.0" project which was exhibited at the Vintage Computer Festival Southwest 2024 as part of the Tandy Showcase.

Over a 15-year tenure, Mark led or participated in many projects and releases. Products included the TRS-80 Model 100 (the first commercially successful notebook computer), the Color Computer 3, & the Tandy 1000/2500 systems. He received patents related to the introduction of multimedia computing (MPC) including several related to a computer's interaction with a CD-ROM drive - how the computer's internal clock accommodates the slower speed of the CD drive, and methods for data cache/buffering.