John G. Sommers Jr. was 26 years old when his father died in 2013 from an aggressive cancer that claimed him in less than six months. At an age when most young people are just beginning their careers, John Jr. found himself at the helm of Allied Printing Services in Manchester, Conn., the largest family-owned commercial printing company in New England.
“When he knew what was inevitableâthat he was terminalâmy father reminded me first to trust my heart and myself, to have the confidence to move forward,” John Jr. says. “And I needed to hear that from him.”