Skip Yowell, a passionate outdoorsman who helped found JanSport, a leading producer of backpacks, died on Wednesday in St. Peter, Kan. He was 69.His sister, Diana Crouch, confirmed his death and said that he had battled lung cancer.Fueled by a 1960s back-to-nature craze and a love of the outdoors, Mr. Yowell and a cousin, Murray Pletz, started JanSport in 1967 in a spare room above a Seattle office belonging to Mr. Yowell’s uncle. The company was named after Mr. Pletz’s girlfriend, who became his wife.JanSport soon grew into a multimillion-dollar business.“His whole life was outdoors and introducing it to generations of people. That was so important to him,” Ms. Crouch said.Mr. Yowell never lost his passion for nature, but when America’s love of camping cooled in the 1980s, companies making outdoor goods had to adapt.JanSport’s initial focus was on external-frame backpacks, the type commonly used by hikers, but by the mid-1980s those packs made up just 20 percent of the company’s sales.

Day packs, the kind students often use to lug around their pencils and books, made up half.The VF Corporation, a lifestyle brand based in Greensboro, N.C., purchased JanSport in 1986. Since then, the company’s backpacks have evolved to meet the needs of a changing world. Its customers, now more apt to be students than mountaineers, need backpacks to be water-resistant to protect their smartphones, tablets and other electronic gear.Harold Murray Yowell was born on July 5, 1946, in Hays, Kan. His father, Harold, worked in the oil well business. His mother, Marjorie, was a homemaker taking care of four siblings.After graduating from Great Bend High School in Great Bend, Kan., Mr. Yowell attended Wichita State University and then Fort Hays State University but did not graduate, Ms. Crouch said.Mr. Yowell soon joined his cousin in Seattle. Mr. Pletz’s idea for an adjustable backpack had won some money in a design competition, and he enlisted Mr. Yowell and other family members to help him start a company.

Mr. Pletz promised his girlfriend, Jan Lewis, that if she married him, he would name the company after her.It was several years until JanSport got real office space. Ms. Lewis helped with the sewing, while Mr. Pletz led the design work. Mr. Yowell was the salesman and would lecture the others on the importance of marketing the brand.“Every day we heard, ‘Marketing!’ ” Ms. Crouch recalled.kickflip backpack black carharttAt the time of his death, Mr. Yowell held the title of vice president for global public relations.giordano backpack malaysiaAnn Daw, the vice president for marketing, said that until his failing health prevented it, Mr. Yowell would often drive four and a half hours to the Denver airport to fly to Indonesia, Brazil or anywhere else he was needed to promote the brand.“longchamp backpack sbn

The hardest thing for him over the last 10 months was that he couldn’t travel,” she said.Besides his sister, survivors include his wife, Winnie Kingsbury; a stepdaughter, Wesley Kingsbury; a stepson, Hunt Kingsbury; and a brother, Lindsey.Mr. Yowell’s lifelong love of nature had material results. He and Mr. Pletz came up with the idea for a dome tent after being caught in a snowstorm on Mount Rainier.He was a founding member of the Outdoor Industry Association, a trade group, and worked with the Big City Mountaineers, a wilderness mentorship program.ezoo backpackOn its website, JanSport still offers a rugged-looking line of backpacks inspired by Mr. Yowell. backpack uygulamaOne model, the Pleasanton, which sells for $245, comes with pockets designed to fit laptops and electronic tablets. f-stop kenti photo backpack

But its look — a more classic style with leather details — is more reminiscent of Mr. Yowell’s early days at the company.“Things just took off,” Mr. Yowell once said. In the beginning, he added, his major worry “was whether I was going to have enough money to go skiing.” New (1) from $39.00 + $9.99 shipping New JanSport Skip Yowell "Ski and Hike" Kilimanjaro Backpack Red Tape Jansport - Ski and Hike Canvas Backpack in Deep Navy A modern reissue of the original style from 1969, the JanSport Ski & Hike backpack features the original 1967 JanSport woven logo, black heavy duty zippers and seat belt webbing shoulder straps. 15 x 5 x 13.5 inches Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds Item model number: TUV05XP Average Customer Review: Be the first to review this item #1,128,180 in Sports & Outdoors (See Top 100 in Sports & Outdoors) JanSport is an American brand of backpacks and collegiate apparel, now owned by VF Corporation, one of the world's largest apparel companies.

[1] JanSport is the world's largest backpack maker, and together, JanSport and The North Face, also owned by VF Corporation, sell nearly half of all small backpacks sold in the United States. JanSport was founded in 1967 in Seattle, Washington, USA by Murray Pletz, his wife Janis "Jan" Lewis (for whom the company is named), and his father Norman Pletz.[5] JanSport innovated with a panel-loading daypack, unlike traditional top-loading packs. In 1975, JanSport introduced the first convertible travel pack, as well as its signature daypack. In 1986, VF purchased JanSport's then parent, Blue Bell. JanSport's corporate headquarters is based in Alameda, California, at VF Outdoor headquarters, where it shares offices with divisional siblings Lucy and The North Face. A distribution facility in Everett, Washington, which had opened in 1971, closed in March 2012. JanSport also has a warehouse in Appleton, Wisconsin, which houses its collegiate apparel division. JanSport started by developing the external frame backpack, which used a metal frame with a cloth packsack attached to it;