September 05, 2008 01:20 PM Eastern Time 

Beloved Pioneer in the Sleep Industry; Pro-Tech Founder and SleepEx Chairman Wally Carruthers Died of Pancreatic Cancer at the Age of 52

WOODENVILLE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--On Wednesday evening September 3, 2008, the sleep and related industries lost a true friend and pioneer in Walter John Carruthers III to advanced stage pancreatic cancer. A graduate of Bothell High School in Washington and Devry University in Phoenix; “Wally” Carruthers founded Pro-Tech Services in 1987 and developed his start-up into one of the premier sensor and medical device companies in the sleep industry before realizing the success he had built by selling Pro-Tech to Philips-Respironics in late 2007.

Wally is survived by his beloved wife Sheri, his mother Dolores, five children and 4 siblings in addition to thousands of sleep technicians, physicians, entrepreneurs and corporate executives who worked with or were touched by Wally and his generosity over the past 20 years in the growing sleep industry. “Wally was one of the only people that I have met in my 30 years in healthcare whose high level of commitment to make the best products in the industry was outshined only by his commitment to the people that worked for him,” says Roy Hathcock, Vice Chairman of SleepEx. “When we sold SleepEx to Pro-Tech in late 2005, it was Wally, his business acumen and his warmth that made it an easy decision to want to be a part of his team.”

A memorial service will be held at 1:00 on Saturday, September 13, 2008. The service will be at Northshore Baptist Church located at 10301 NE 145^th Street, Bothell. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to either Exile Facilities Fund, Exile Presbyterian Church, PMB #132, 14241 NE Woodinville-Duvall Road, Woodinville, WA 98072 or the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, 2141 Rosecrans Ave., Suite 7000, El Segundo, CA 90245.

For additional information about Wally Carruthers or SleepEx, please contact Sean McDonough at 800-235-9830 or at sean@sleepex.com.