Lynn Pope, a popular and respected aerial industry veteran who played a major role in the growth of rental of aerial equipment, died recently at the age of 59. His passing surprised many industry people who had seen Pope at the American Rental Association convention last month where he spoke on the topic of sales practices and sales organizations at ARA’s Construction University.

In the 1970s, Pope was instrumental in establishing the access rental business in California where he helped build American Hi-Lift into one of the first and largest aerial lift specialty sales and rental operations in the nation. Pope then worked on the manufacturing side of the business, first at Mark Industries — now part of Terex — and then with Skyjack.

In addition to American Hi-Lift, Pope worked for several rental companies — Rental Service Corp., Prime Equipment and Ahern Rentals.

Pope is survived by his wife Ginny, sons David and Christopher, daughters Traci Smoyer and Shara, and five grandchildren.