Born and educated in England, Malcolm Candlish received his degree from the London School of Economics in 1956. He served as an officer in the British Army from 1956 to 1958 and, early in his business career, held marketing positions with the Beecham Group in London and Brazil, and with Colgate-Palmolive Company in New York.
Malcolm met his wife, Jasmine, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where she had been sent by the British Foreign Service on assignment to the political division of the British Embassy. They were married in 1963 and immigrated the next day to the United States. They have four children and thirteen grandchildren, the source of Malcolm’s greatest pride and joy.
From 1965 to 1977, Malcolm worked with McKinsey and Company, Inc. in numerous locations around the world, including New York, Melbourne, Sydney, Cleveland, and Toronto. He was elected a partner of McKinsey in 1971 and left in 1977 to join Wilson Sporting Goods where he held the position of Vice President of the International Division, and Senior Vice President of Marketing.
For six years, from 1983 to 1989, Malcolm served as President and CEO of The Samsonite Corporation before joining Sealy, Inc. where he was named both CEO and Chairman of the Board.
In late 1992 Malcolm left Sealy, Inc and was elected Chairman of the Board and CEO of First Alert, Inc. He relinquished the position of CEO in 1996 and the position of Chairman in 1998 at the time of First Alert’s sale to Sunbeam Corp.
In addition to the boards noted above, Malcolm also served as a director of The Black & Decker Corporation, Amerus Life Holdings, Inc., Dr. Pepper/Seven-Up Companies, Inc., Health-o-Meter, Inc., The Stiffel Company, and Lowe’s Home Safety Council.
A resident of Sarasota and Bradenton since 1992, Malcolm was dedicated to improving the opportunities available to less fortunate members of the community. He served on the Finance Committees and Boards of both Planned Parenthood of Central & Southwest Florida, Jewish Family and Children’s Services and established a fund at the Gulf Coast Community Foundation.
A memorial service at Jennings Funeral Home, 5750 Swift Road, Sarasota will be held at 3:00 pm Saturday, May 6, 2017. His family requests donations in Malcolm’s memory to the charity of your choice in lieu of flowers.