Lawrence Johnson, boat trailer maker, dies at 97

SPOKANE — Lawrence Nels Johnson, founder of EZ Loader Boat Trailers, Inc., has died at the age of 97. Johnson died Friday.

He was born in Spokane, Wash., on July 12, 1913, and attended an engineering trade school.

He was a partner in an auto body shop when he began trying to build a better boat trailer. He created the first self-adjusting roller system for trailers, and used it to found EZ Loader Trailer in 1953 in Spokane. The company is the largest trailer maker in the nation.

Johnson had 14 patented designs as he continued to improve the trailers.

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