Third in a series of famous Bluffton High School alumni
By Fred Steiner
www.BlufftonForever.com
Ray Leon “R.L.” Triplett
Nov. 13, 1883 - Oct. 25, 1977
Bluffton High School class of 1902
Call it small-town ingenuity. Bluffton’s favorite entrepreneurial son became a 20th century household name here.
R.L. Triplett, founded an industry, which became a leader in its field. And, his business model spurred the local economy crediting him with created more jobs than any other person in our village history. For nearly eight decades the Triplett company was Bluffton’s largest single industrial operation and employer.
As a family-owned business from 1904 until 1983, the Triplett Electrical Instrument Co., was affectionally referred to locally as “the meter works.” Under its later ownership, the company eventually closed.