William R. Hoag, who took the concept of treating wood and built it into a thriving lumber business in Elizabeth, died Tuesday of cancer at St. Clair Hospital in Upper St. Clair. He was 87.

While the treatment of wood for use in construction wasn't his idea, Mr. Hoag recognized how it could be valuable for everything from large construction to homeowners' back decks.

"I would call him a pioneer in the lumber industry," said his son, Michael Hoag, who succeeded his father as CEO of National Industrial Lumber Co. in 1999.

Born in Forest Hills, Mr. Hoag played baseball as a youth and was drafted as a first baseman by the Cincinnati Reds. But he gave up the game after attending Greenbrier Military School in West Virginia, where he graduated as a first lieutenant.

During World War II, Mr. Hoag was assigned to the Thunderbolt Division of the 83rd Division of the Army fighting in Normandy. He received a Purple Heart after being injured when a shell exploded near his foxhole and met his wife, Elizabeth, at an army hospital in New Jersey while he was recovering.

His injuries bothered him to some extent the rest of his life, but Mr. Hoag never complained about them, said Michael Hoag of Hartville, Ohio. If anything, he used the experience to more fully appreciate his life and to help others.

"I think it did shape his life in that he had a much deeper appreciation of when things are tough, they are never as tough as they were there," Michael Hoag said. "That helped to shape his positive attitude. There was no situation that was too difficult after that experience."

After the war, Mr. Hoag attended the University of Pittsburgh, where he graduated in 1946. He was working for an office products company when his father, who had bought a lumber company 1936, asked him to come work with him.

By the early 1950s, Mr. Hoag was CEO of West Elizabeth Lumber Co., which later grew into NILCO, with 10 locations in the United States.

"He was just a great mentor all the way to the end, someone I could count on to talk to," his son said. "He was just a giant in the industry, really, in my mind. He understood distribution. He understood the industrial market, the lumber, and he was a great leader of men."

During the 1950s, Mr. Hoag also was one of the first to recognize the value of Wolmanized lumber, which has since become a favorite material for backyard decks everywhere. He opened one of the first plants in the country to provide the treated wood.

At the time, most decks were made of redwood. The impetus for Mr. Hoag, however, was not recreation, but industry. He wanted to develop a treated wood that would hold up under harsh environments, such as in steel plants.

"He had a tremendous insight into the workings of the whole industry," said Jim Smith, who has been with NILCO for 12 years and is president of the company's building products division. "Even in his later years, he kept up with everything.

"He had the ability and knowledge to look at other businesses and how they operated, and several times bring suggestions from other business models. He helped us with our tremendous growth over the past 12 years, when a lot of our competitors were shrinking."

But it wasn't necessarily the treatment of wood that made Mr. Hoag such a successful businessman. It was his treatment of people. His motto in the workplace was "Kill 'em with kindness."

"That's what he wanted us to do with all of our customers, as well as our employees," Mr. Smith said. "Let's face it, that usually pays off."

"It could have been lumber, it could have been anything," his son said. "He wanted to serve people with something tangible, something useful. And wood is a very dynamic product, but it wasn't his focus."

In addition to his son, Mr. Hoag's survivors include his wife, Elizabeth Hoag; four sons, William Hoag Jr. of St. Clairsville, Ohio, Robert Hoag II of Bethel Park, Thomas Hoag of Elizabeth and Richard Hoag of Presto; 12 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

Visitation will be 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. today at Beinhauer Mortuary on Washington Road in McMurray, where a funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday.

Donations may be made to Bethany College, Bethany, WV 26032, or Kiski Prep School, 1888 Brett Lane, Saltsburg, PA 15681.

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