b'THE COMSTAR SUPPLY STORYAn Unexpected CallChad still feels the weight of the call thatChad recalls, What 19-year old is ready to hear that your dad has cancer, and you need to drop out of came when he was sitting in his dorm room ascollege and come home to work? I was barely ready to go back for my sophomore year, yet alone what a 19-year-old sophomore. The words his motherwas to be expected of me when I returned home.said to him during that call still resonate with him more than 20 years later. Your dad hasBut it wasnt really an ask; it was a tell. Earl was sick and Gwen had recently achieved the position of vice been diagnosed with cancer. He cant workprincipal of her school, so for the short-term the weight of the business fell on the shoulders of their son. right now. You need to come home. What else was there to say? Chad notes. They had started this business, and we were in debt. My dad couldnt work. The business was him and no one else, so we had to make it work. Im sure they were initially terrified that it was all going to be up to me.Earl was diagnosed with sarnovial sarcoma, and doctors removed a cantaloupe-sized tumor from his hip. He was bedridden for more than nine months but stayed involved as much as he could in the business from a hospital bed in his home, while his 19-year-old son leaned on the tenets instilled in him from a young age.The business was him and no one else, so we had to make it work. Im sure they were initially terrified that it was all going to be up to me. Chad Punchard 1996 1997Earl was diagnosed with cancer. Buyout of partners, the Colemans. Earls cancer goes into remission.10THE COMSTAR SUPPLY STORY'