Harold "Spike" Yoh

Harold L. “Spike” Yoh, Jr. (87)December 12, 1936 – June 21, 2024

Rare is the person who both commands the entire room and makes you feel like you’re the only one in it. Spike Yoh was such a man. Larger than life, he had an enormous impact on myriad organizations and communities, yet perhaps the most common observation from others is how focused Spike was on them as individuals. Whether a colleague, an employee, a young person, or a worker in a local boutique or supermarket, Spike made others feel special. This was his superpower. 

Harold L. “Spike” Yoh, Jr., 87, went home to the Lord on Friday, June 21, surrounded by loved ones. His beautiful and peaceful passing concluded several years of on- and-off health challenges which culminated in renal failure and congestive heart failure. Affable and magnanimous to the end, Spike received visitors, phone calls, Zooms, and FaceTimes until just hours before he passed.

Spike was born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, in 1936 on December 12, a birthday he shared with his favorite crooner, Frank Sinatra. He graduated from The Haverford School and then, in 1958, from Duke University, where he met (the first) love of his life, Mary (nee Milus). He also earned an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Spike and Mary were married in 1959 and remained loyal companions until Mary’s death in 2015 after a long illness.

Spike and Mary had five children, and they developed a parenting philosophy intended to build a cohesive yet diverse group. All seven family members (plus several other relatives) attended Duke, and at one point, all five children worked in the family business. They even developed a common set of family values. Along with these similarities, Spike and Mary also raised their children to be strong-willed and independent. Each has had deep connections to and points of disagreement with their father. The kids share their parents’ top priority of family, strong commitment to community improvement, and work-hard-play-hard ethos.

Spike Yoh was an incredibly successful business and civic leader. In the mid-1970s, after having to outbid two public companies to buy his father’s business, Day & Zimmermann, Spike led D&Z through a period of meteoric growth. When he retired in 1999, the company had 16,000 employees and was one of the largest privately held businesses in the US (D&Z is currently ranked #227 on Forbes’ List of Largest Private Companies). His passion for people and zeal for entrepreneurship and diversification endeared him with his management teams and customers, while his emotional intelligence and communications style generated high levels of employee engagement.

Spike’s volunteer career spanned an even longer time frame than his professional endeavors. He filled the role of chairman or other leadership positions in organizations such as National Defense Industrial Association, National Technical Services Association, Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, Boy Scouts of America, United States Olympic Committee, and The Haverford School. The two-part culmination of his community leadership efforts was as board chair for Duke University and then Ocean Reef Club. Never one to maintain the status quo, Spike had the uncommon ability to diagnose what ailed a community and the vision and wherewithal to develop a strategy and roadmap to enroll broad swaths of stakeholders as active participants in moving toward a better future.

Mary, an active community volunteer as well, was his partner and biggest supporter throughout his business and volunteer activities. As a couple, they engendered tremendous loyalty and love from anyone who worked for or with them. Spike considered his Young Presidents Organization “Forum,” a small group of fellow business leaders and family men with whom he met regularly for more than thirty five years, as the “board of directors of his life.”

Spike valued friendship as much as anyone could. His infectious personality, zeal for living, and flat-out love of a good time created deep bonds and indelible memories for countless people fortunate enough to call him a friend. No group better exemplified these bonds than his beloved “Ollie Brothers,” five fraternity brothers from Duke who remained close for the rest of their lives, routinely gathering for Duke Basketball games and with their spouses and growing families for reunions.

Spike fell in love for the second time during the pandemic and, in May 2021, married Gail McConnell, also a widow. The Yohs and McConnells had been close friends for forty-five years, since their sons, also lifelong friends, met in kindergarten. Providentially, Spike and Gail gave the eulogy at each other’s first spouse’s funeral. They grew together in their faith during their brief but terrific three-year marriage.

Spike was predeceased by his first wife, Mary, their daughter, Karen (d. 2007), and his half-siblings Robert Yoh and Marianne Yancey. He is survived by his wife, Gail, his sons Hal (Sharon), Mike (Gayle), Jeff (Suzanne), and Bill (Kelly), plus fourteen grandchildren, four grandchildren-in-law, and five great grandchildren. He is also survived by his sister, Barbara Juda, his half-brother, Ted, his stepson, Stephen McConnell (Mandy), stepdaughter Stephanie Moleski (Charlie), and four stepgrandsons.

Consistent with Spike’s focus on others, please consider making a donation in his honor to the charity of your choice. Livestream of the services can be accessed atwww.theredeemer.org.