A leader and pioneer in the development of prototype and injection mold tooling in the early days of the plastics industry. Instrumental in developing and refining molds that enabled the processing of new materials into useful products.

Kavanagh's innovation and consistent dedication resulted in extraordinary accomplishments that have furthered the growth of the industry.

He was born in Providence, RI in 1889 and came to the Leominster area when he was 5 years old. He began his career in plastics at the age of 15 in the "rub room" of the Blodgett company, where celluloid articles received their final polishing.

In 1911, at the early age of 22, he founded the Standard Tool Company with his partner, Robert Stowell. The company became one of the largest privately owned mold shops in the world during the 1940s and was issued one of the first patents in the country for insulated hot runner molds.

Kavanagh was a director of the New England section of SPI, and a chairman of the Mold Makers Division. He was active in the formation of the Plastics Pioneers Association and vigorously promoted plastics education in the Leominster Vocational High School. His name lives on at the Kavanagh Hall at St. Anselm's College in Manchester, New Hampshire, and he held a membership in the papal order of the Knights of Malta.

He is survived by five grandchildren; Judith Woodward, John A.C., Dale,Mark, and Lionel Brant Kavanagh.