Russell “Russ” Haines, former CEO of PACO Pharmaceutical Services, and a pioneer in the pharmaceutical packaging industry, passed away peacefully at his home in Brielle, NJ on December 18, 2020. He was 93. Margaret “Peggy” Haines (age 96) his devoted wife of 73 years died three weeks later.
 
Russ was born November 3, 1927 in Philadelphia, PA. Orphaned at an early age, he spent his childhood with a foster family on a farm in Bucks County, PA. He graduated from the Pennsylvania Maritime Academy in 1947 and sailed to Europe with the American Export Line as an Engineering Officer. Returning to Philadelphia, he married Peggy Lockett, started a family and worked for Walter P. Miller Box Co. while earning a B.S. in Industrial Management from LaSalle University.
 
In 1959 Russ, Peggy and their two young children relocated to Atlanta, GA where Russ was Vice President of Atlanta Box Co. They returned to Philadelphia where he began what was to be a long and rewarding career at PACO Pharmaceutical Services, appointed President and CEO in 1976. During this time, he also joined the U.S. Naval Reserve, retiring with the rank of Commander after 21 years of service.

During his career at PACO his many innovations and passion for problem solving resulted in his securing multiple blister packaging patents, many of which are still active today. He was also a pioneer in the field of sterile and liquid packaging. Most memorable was his involvement in the famous “Tylenol Cyanide Poisonings” that dominated national news in 1982 and forever changed the way drugs and foods are packaged and consumed. Russ had been experimenting with tamper proof bottles but the big drug producers were not yet convinced of the need. The Tylenol tragedy required Johnson and Johnson to remove all Tylenol bottles from store shelves throughout the U.S. A deal was made with PACO to package tamper resistant Tylenol and get it back on the shelves without delay. PACO responded in record time and now “Tamper Resistant Packaging” is mandated by Federal Law.
 
Under Russ Haines’ leadership, PACO expanded, diversified and grew to become the largest contract packaging company in the U.S. employing over 1200 men and women in plants in New Jersey, Chicago and Puerto Rico. Often with Peggy at his side, Russ traveled to Europe and Japan to collaborate with engineers, exchanging expertise and making lifelong friends in the process. In the board room or on the factory floor, his employees remember him fondly for his open-door approach to communication, his interest in their job satisfaction and in their personal growth. Russ retired at age 82, ending a spectacular 73-year career. In retirement, he
continued to mentor many former employees and their children. 
 
He and Peggy were devoted to their two children, five grandchildren, and four great-grand-children. A humble man, sailing his 35’ Bristol, solo, at age 90, for Russ was one of life’s greatest pleasures.