Good Afternoon,

Friday I had the unfortunate duty of informing all of you about Bruce's passing away.  Friday was spent talking with people in ops, accounting, brokerage, sales and pricing.  IT was especially devastated as we all know of Bruce's expertise in all things technical, electrically operated or had a keyboard.  There were lots of hugs, tears, and some re-telling of Bruce "stories" by those who knew him best.  I was one of those.

I first met Bruce when the ICG moved me to Memphis as the Southern Region's Business Information Manager.  I had the office next to the District Sales Manager; Bruce Hallmann.  The first thing that hit me when I met Bruce was his impeccable attire, and his friendliness to the new guy.  Bruce quickly became someone that I frequently talked with, had lunch with and asked a lot of questions of.  He always took the time necessary to answer my questions and help explain more of what was going on in the region.

The ICG closed the Southern Region and I wound up working for MCS and Bruce eventually wound up at APL.  We did not stay in touch as much as we had when we worked together, but we saw each other as single guys out on the town at night.  At MCS one day Bruce called and asked if he could come by.  APL was in a cost cutting mode and it had included Bruce.  I realized I had the opportunity of not only hiring a good sales person, but someone with a great deal of management experience.  Knowing Bruce's management background was part of my quick offer of a job.  It was not long before Bruce was being asked to assume more management roles at MCS and at Cornerstone he ultimately wound up as SrVP-Sales.

There are any number of sales reps who can attest to Bruce's concern for them, his willingness to mentor and, perhaps most of all, his genuine concern for their well-being and success.  Later on at Cornerstone he assumed responsibility for overseeing both Memphis Intermodal Ops and Memphis truck brokerage; a position particularly suited to his management background and temperament.  Many in both departments can tell you of his concern, his willingness to mentor and pass on those invaluable insights from a long career in this business.

Not only was Bruce articulate, but he had a great ability to communicate via the written word.  He and I would argue or discuss what I thought was the use of too many punctuation marks, but the old saying that you can't teach an "old dog new tricks" (He would have been happy to see the punctuation marks) was reinforced by Bruce's inability or perhaps refusal to stop using them.  It was an ongoing joke between us and I will miss seeing them in his emails.

Bruce was an encourager, a peace maker, a darn good mediator, and perhaps the most important quality to me; a loyal friend.  I never worried about what Bruce was saying when I was not around. He was a great grandfather or had to be because I know of few beautiful blond teens that would come and visit their grandfather on a regular basis.  I do not know his sons, but if they have any of the qualities I have mentioned than he had to have been a great Dad as well.

I will end this with a story of the last time Bruce and I talked.  It was this past Thursday, the day before we learned of his passing.  He had just spent three days with Dan Coddington in St. Louis.  Dan is one of our newest sales reps.  Bruce was ecstatic about his trip, how Dan was coming along and the quality of the sales calls, especially the one on Emerson Electric.  He spent over 40 minutes telling me about that trip.  In the final analysis, I know of no better way for Bruce to have spent the days before he left us, than helping a sales rep along the success path.

My condolences to his family, friends, co-workers, and those that he invested his time in.  Bruce was loved, and he will be missed by all of us.

Rick Rodell

CEO / Chairman

Cornerstone Systems