The history of Lillsun Mfg. Co., Inc. begins back in 1936, when Herman Sundermann, then 18 years old, went to work for a company named Schroeder Manufacturing. They manufactured a line of wooden products for the food industry which included peels, proofing boards and paddles. After serving in WWII, and returning to work at his former job, he became restless with the new management and thought he would like to try something new. He found a job as shipping room foreman and dreamed of being his own boss. In 1951, with a $200 loan to buy their first machine, he and his wife Lillian Sundermann started Lillsun Mfg. Co. in their 16 by 22 foot garage.

Keeping his day job, the two of them working in the garage at night, and using his vacation time to make business calls, they soon started shipping a few orders.

Lillian’s first office was in whichever room in the house she could find room to put the desk Herman had made of salvaged shipping materials, (which we still have) and the end table with its very used typewriter.

In 1953, they took the big step and put up the first 24 by 60 foot building. With this much space, they began to dream of being totally self employed. That year their dream came true when Herman was able to quit his “day job”, and devote his full energies to the business. The business continued to grow, and in 1954, the Sundermann’s were able to hire their first full time employee, who sometimes made more money than they did. Then in 1968, their son Bill came to work part time on his days off from the fire department.

The 20th anniversary of Lillsun Manufacturing, in 1971, saw the company incorporate with Herman as President, Lillian as Treasurer, Bill as Vice President, and their daughter Sharon as Secretary.

We continued to grow, and in 1981 Sharon took over the duties of office manager. This divided the day to day managing of Lillsun among the family members, allowing each of them to focus on the area of the business at which they excelled.

Bill’s son, Don, came to work in production in 1994, making three generations dedicated to producing the best bakers woodenware available.

Before Herman’s death in 2001, he was able to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his dream, marking 65 years he had served the baking industry.

We have no intention of straying from the path the founders established, and will do everything in our power to continue to do what we know best; and that is making wooden products for pizzerias and bakeries. We at Lillsun feel there is no need to make any changes to the product or the philosophy that built this enduring company. There is nothing old fashioned about making a great product and selling it at a fair price. Oh sure, we may use web sites and e-mail instead of the telegraph and the Post Office as they did 50 years ago, but that does not mean we can not provide you with the same great old fashioned service. We all look forward to serving our friends, old and new alike, for years to come.