WA sign champion Bob Meade passes away

Bob Meade, founder of Bokay Signs, pioneering printer, and one of the leading lights in the WA sign industry has passed away, two years after selling his business.

Together with his wife Kay, Meade founded Bokay in 1984 and led the company for 35 years, bringing innovation and technology into the industry, until it became part of John Mancini’s company, Jason Signmakers, when the Meades retired. It has just merged with Expo Visual to form ExBo Visual.

Alana Dunning, executive general manager at ExBo Visual paid this tribute: “Bob and Kay Meade founded Bokay Signage 37 years ago following relocation with their four children from Busselton to Perth. Despite the challenges in bringing up a young family, they worked arduously to build the company on a solid foundation of quality and great customer service.

Bob did not suffer tardiness and built a reputation for delivering on time to customers, no matter what. As the years progressed, this created respected notoriety with customers who chose to remain loyal to the business for decades to come.

A visionary leader for Bokay Signage and within the wider industry, he pioneered the purchase of an industrial printer the size of which had not been seen in WA previously. This propelled the business to greater success, until he and Kay determined it was time to retire in 2019. At that point in time Bokay Signage was sold to the Jason Group and the customer loyalty remains today, with his son and grandson continuing Bob and Kay’s legacy.

Bob was well respected by all those who knew him and was a larger-than-life personality. For those who truly got to know him, political correctness was not his strong suit and despite the hardened commercial veneer, you need only share a personal challenge to unveil a soft and compassionate side.

Although the Jason Group were just a blip in his career, Bob has left an indelible mark on those he touched and proudly he leaves a legacy that will live on.

To the Meade family we extend our sincere condolences on the loss of a great man, Bob Meade.”