Truly Nolen, pest control magnate, employed humor
Truly Nolen, who founded the pest-control company famous for cars decorated like mice, died Tuesday in Naples. He was 89.
He was still chairman of the Orlando-based company and routinely involved in its operation. He appeared by videophone every month during weeklong training for new employees, company spokesman Toby Srebnik said.
Known as a great storyteller, Nolen had founded the company in Miami in 1938.
“A sense of humor and fun and passion, those were huge ingredients in how we did everything,” said his daughter Michelle Nolen Senner, who handles marketing for the company. “That’s what got him through his own difficult times early in his life.”
Senner said her father always found humor in any situation, and encouraged others too. She said 11 family members work for the company now. “He did everything with passion. He also stood up for people and told us to take care of the customer, and you won’t have to worry about everything else.”
His son Scott Nolen is president of the company. He told the Orlando Sentinel in 2014 that the mouse cars were originally supposed to be Batmobiles because Batman was popular at the time, “but people thought it was a mouse, so we changed it.”
From its base in Orlando, Truly Nolen International expanded to about 60 countries, including Mexico, Saudi Arabia, China, Turkey and the United Kingdom. In 2014, the company said about a third of the company’s revenue — now topping $150 million — was from international operations.
Truly Nolen and his son had emphasized a fun atmosphere at work. The main offices are festooned with yellow-and-black signs, game boards and stairwells painted to demonstrate environments where termites and pests thrive. A “wheel of fortune” rewarded employees with prizes such as $250 or an Apple TV.
Truly Nolen is survived by his wife of 32 years, Vickie Taylor Nolen, eight children, 12 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.