Business legacy: Harry D. Carhart Jr. "inherited" Carhart Photo, but his ideas made it successful.

Business ownership was in Harry D. Carhart Jr.'s blood. In 1914, Harry Carhart Sr. started Carhart Photo Inc. with help from his friend George Eastman. In those early days, Eastman Kodak Co. often used Carhart Photo as testing grounds for their chemicals and processing.

While in high school, Harry Jr. helped with the family business by doing routine printing and processing after school. Eventually he would become president and CEO of the company.

Harry D. Carhart Jr. passed away on Sept. 14 at the age of 86 in Brooksville, Fla. He remained active in the photo industry throughout his life. In fact, he attended the 82nd annual PMA International Convention and Trade Show this past February in Orlando, Fla.

"We loved going to the conventions," says wife Carol Carhart. "I'll miss him."

Carhart is survived by wife Carol; daughter JoAnn Carhart Levy (Edward) of Vail, Colo.; sons Steven D. Carhart of Rochester, N.Y., and Bruce A. Carhart, Alexandria Bay, N.Y.; stepchildren Joanne Watkins, Chapel Hill, N.C., Barbara Heyl, Norwich, Vt., and William Spalty, Rochester, N.Y.; brother-in-law J.Coyne O'Brien, Esq.; grandson Brandon; and six step-grandchildren. Carhart is predeceased by siblings Doris Ann Carhart, Jane Carhart O'Brien, and Orrin K. "OK" Carhart.

When Harry Jr. entered St. Lawrence University, he was production manager for Carhart Photo during summer vacations. He graduated in 1941 and wanted to go to medical school to become a doctor. World War II got in the way of those plans. He joined the U.S. Air Force instead and worked his way up the ranks to become a Major. After the war, he helped manage the Buffalo, N.Y., plant of Carhart Photo. The company continued to expand as a wholesale photofinisher and a retail business with locations in 10 states.

A few years later, Harry Sr. asked his sons Harry Jr. and Orrin to watch the business while he took a vacation in Florida since he hadn't been on vacation in 10 years. Harry Sr. never came back, unless it was to fish in the Great Lakes on occasion.

Harry Jr. and Orrin eventually bought their father's interest in the company. Harry Jr. focused more on the wholesale side of the business and Orrin handled the retail side.

"My dad was really the idea guy and the driving force behind the company," says son Steven.

"He had passion, he had drive, and he had impatience for all the above," remembers Steven. "He was impatient because he just wanted to get it done."

The brothers ran the business from 1945-1985. In 1985, they sold the wholesale part of Carhart Photo Inc. to the Adanta, Ga.-based American Photo Group. On the retail side, many of the Carhart Photo managers bought their store businesses; many are still in operation today under different names.

A few years later, American Photo Group was bought out by the wholesale processing arm of Kodak, which eventually became known as Qualex. Carhart Photo completed its circle: What began with Kodak in 1914, returned to Kodak more than 70 years later.

Harry Jr. was a member of the Master Photo Dealers' & Finishers' Association (MPDFA), which became known as Photo Marketing Association International in 1974. He was named president of the MPDFA in 1963. Prior to that election, he severed as a vice president, and following his presidential term, Harry Jr. served on the Board of Trustees. He also served as a Territorial Vice President.

While chairing the MPDFA Education Committee, Harry Jr. spearheaded a $500,000 endowment fund-raising drive, which resulted in the 1969 establishment of the James E. McGhee Distinguished Professor Scholarship at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). Money was raised through gifts from members and MPDFA. The endowment still exits today offering $1,000 to $4,000 a year to a student enrolled in the RIT imaging systems management program with outstanding academic achievement, leadership potential, or financial need.

In 1975, Carhart was inducted into the PMA Hall of Fame at the PMA 51st Annual Convention held in Chicago, Ill. The Hall of Fame is one the highest honors bestowed by PMA.

Carhart Photo was a successful business, born of entrepreneurship and innovation.

"My grandpa and my dad were unique people. Unique people are risk takers, and risk takers make small businesses successful," says Steven. "In those days you had to be a risk taker to make it work in the photo industry."