The industry lost one of its most prolific leaders when Larry Biscornet passed away Dec. 31 in Safety Harbor, Fla., after a short illness. He was 73.
The retired president of LBI Pools in New Rochelle, N.Y. held a number of key positions, including president, with both the Association of Pool & Spa Professionals and the Northeast Spa and Pool Association. He also was an industry pioneer, as a key founding member of APSP’s Service Council.
Larry Biscornet was born May 9, 1945 in Brooklyn, N.Y. and moved to New Rochelle, N.Y. as a child. He entered the pool/spa industry as a high schooler, working in LBI, which was founded by his father. After graduating high school there, he served in the U.S. Marine Corps. During his service, he would help his father when he was on leave.
Biscornet took over LBI in the 1970s after the passing of his father.
He became active with the industry in the mid 1980s when he joined the Northeast Spa and Pool Association and its Metro Chapter. He was Metro Chapter president from 1993 to 1995. Afterward, he became part of NESPA’s board, working his way up the chairs until he became president in 1999. He remained on the board until 2014. During that time, he served on a number of NESPA committees.
“I sometimes wondered how he had time to run his business,” said Larry Caniglia, the former executive director of NESPA and current president/CEO of APSP. “He was always doing something. I can’t think of anything he didn’t serve on.”
In APSP, Biscornet played a key role founding the Service Council in 1997. With the builder and retail segments enjoying their own councils, Biscornet and his best friend, Bob Baron, lobbied to start one dedicated to the service side of the industry.
“He felt strongly about getting representation for service, because he thought it was a huge part of APSP and the industry,” said Baron, owner of Baron Pool Service in Ramsey, N.J., and a 50-year friend of Biscornet.
Biscornet was voted the council’s first liaison to the APSP Board of Directors. Shortly after, he became one of the council’s first presidents. He also helped write APSP’s first service manuals and builders manuals.
Biscornet went on to serve as APSP chairman in 2006.
But Caniglia believes it was a very quiet, unrecognized move of Biscornet’s that cements his legacy within the organizations. In the early 2000s, tension existed between NESPA and APSP. As a result, the northeast group considered ending its affiliation with the national organization. While some vocal members of NESPA leadership were gunning to make the move, Biscornet convinced the group to give it more time and thought, so cooler heads could prevail.
“He always brought the conversation back to, ‘We’re one industry. We need to work together,’” Caniglia said.
NESPA retained its affiliation with APSP, which Caniglia mostly attributes to Biscornet. “That, to me, was his crowning jewel — and nobody even knew it,” he said.
These legacy-building achievements aside, Biscornet was known by his peers as an expert in hydraulics, particularly on the commercial side. He was an early proponent of using larger pipe — 2½ inch and then larger, which was unheard of at the time — to reduce friction loss in hydraulic systems. “Nobody was using 2½-inch pipe, but he showed engineers, the Board of Health and others that friction loss was greatly reduced just by going from 2 to 2½ inches,” Baron said.
NESPA staffers frequently consulted him for guidance when working with codes and standard or negotiating with building officials. And professionals all over, including his competitors, asked for advice — which he happily gave, Caniglia said.
Added NESPA Show Manager Trish McCormick: “He was a gentleman. He was always such a mentor. He just loved to be around other people in our industry and share.”
And if there was golf, he was there. “That was his passion,” Baron said.
Biscornet retired last year when he sold his company. He and his wife Dorothy began spending more time at their home in Clearwater, Fla.
In addition to his wife, Biscornet is survived by daughters Joy and Mary Francis, a son-in-law, two grandchildren, two sisters and a brother-in-law.
