Ralph Gerard Dacey, 85, a retired executive vice president of Compo Industries, died February 2 at his home in Wellesley, MA.

Following service in World War II, Dacey joined Compo, a major shoe machinery producer at the time specialising in the cement process. The company produced a full range of machines from stitching through lasting and bottoming. As the shoe industry declined in the United States, the company dropped its shoe machinery lines but kept its stitching division active in the garment and sewn products industries.

Dacey left Compo in 1959 to form Polymers, Inc., a producer of specialty plastics. He retired in 2000. He is survived by three daughters, two sons and 12 grandchildren.

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