Pioneer in vending machine business dies

Iconic delivery trucks bearing a red rooster logo were synonymous with quality food service for more than 30 years in the Northwest suburbs.

What started out as Cockrell Coffee Service in 1954, serving businesses in Arlington Heights and Rolling Meadows, grew into one of the largest independent vending companies in Illinois.

Matthew Cockrell, who built the business with his wife, Betty, and is described by colleagues as a pioneer in the vending and coffee industry, died Monday at the age of 92.

A native of Louisville, Kentucky, Mr. Cockrell started his career in the newspaper industry working for the Louisville Herald Post and later the Chicago Herald American before World War II broke out.

After the war, Mr. Cockrell returned to a newspaper agency he had started in Elmwood Park, with carriers on routes delivering papers. But while raising his young family, he searched for a business that he could grow, family members say.

"He had grown up in the Depression and watched his father lose his job," says his daughter, Carol Pankros of Palatine. "He always wanted to get into a business that would survive a recession and he figured a nickel-and-dime business, would. He thought people would always be willing to pay a nickel or a dime for a cup of coffee."

Back in the 1950s, when he started the business, vending machine products only cost a nickel or a dime. Before long, he and his wife branched out into selling everything from candy and chips to freshly made sandwiches and desserts.

"Matt was very good at what he did," says Craig Hesch with AH-Vending in Rolling Meadows, which eventually absorbed some of Mr. Cockrell's employees. "All of his accounts were concentric to his Schaumburg facility, and he served them well."

In fact, Mr. Cockrell devised a seven-mile radius in which to develop new business, from which he never strayed, his daughter says.

Cockrell Vending refrigerated trucks delivered fresh items daily to accounts on as many as 20 routes, to locations in Arlington Heights, Barrington, Rolling Meadows, Des Plaines, Elk Grove, Hanover Park, Hoffman Estates, Itasca, Mount Prospect, Palatine, Schaumburg and Wheeling.

"They were all local," his daughter adds. "We had all the park districts and a lot of schools."

Cockrell Vending also served the Daily Herald's former editorial building in downtown Arlington Heights.

"We had them for years," says Bob Paddock, vice chairman and executive vice president. "Part of it was his generous spirit and likable personality, but you always knew he had this willingness to stand behind his product and do what had to be done."

In the 1960s, Mr. Cockrell and his wife expanded to provide a full service food operation for office buildings and factories with cafeterias. Their Schaumburg facility included a warehouse, loading dock and commissary where all the food was made.

"My mother was in charge of the food," Carol Pankros says. "There was a window at the front of the building, so everyone who entered could see the food being made and that it was made in a clean facility."

Mr. Cockrell sold the business in 1982, however his name continues to by synonymous with food service.

In retirement, he generously supported local causes, including Clearbrook, the Arlington Heights Rotary Club and Harper College, where he established an endowed scholarship fund, which annually supports 15-20 working students.

College officials offered him a naming opportunity, and he chose the campus dining facility, which is known to students and faculty alike as the Cockrell Dining Hall.

Besides his daughter, Mr. Cockrell is survived by his wife of 68 years, Betty, and children Liz (Dick) Wilmes and Matt (Barbara) Cockrell, as well as seven grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

Funeral services will be private.