Gert Boyle, the iconic 'One Tough Mother' who transformed Columbia Sportswear, dies at 95

Gert Boyle, chairwoman of Columbia Sportswear

(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/Columbia Sportswear)

published 4 November 2019

Gert Boyle, who died Sunday morning at age 95, took over Columbia Sportswear Co. in 1970 after her husband died from a sudden heart attack. After a rough start, she and son Tim Boyle turned the Oregon outdoor clothing company into a national brand with 5,300 employees and net sales of $2.47 billion in 2017. Gert Boyle ran the company until Tim took over as president and chief executive in 1988, and she stayed on as chairwoman until her death on Sunday. She continued working in the office, signing every paycheck, into her 90s.

Boyle was the first woman inducted into the National Sporting Goods Hall of Fame, but she gained national celebrity as the face of Columbia's "One Tough Mother" ad campaign, starting in 1984. Columbia's TV ads often featured Gert showcasing the resilience of Columbia's sportswear by putting Tim through extreme conditions. One of her catchphrases was: "Early to bed, early to rise, work like hell and advertise."

Gert Boyle was born in Augsburg, Germany. Her family fled to America when she was 9, after Adolf Hitler rose to power and Nazis defaced her family's home with "Jews Live Here," The Oregonian reports. Her father created Columbia Hat Co. after buying a small Portland company, and her husband took over the business when her father died. Boyle moved into an assisted living facility after she thwarted a burglary in 2010; the then-88-year-old Boyle outwitted the would-be thief and, when the police arrived, told one solicitous officer, "Everything was okay until you came in with that North Face jacket." She was the only resident of her retirement home with a full-time job.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.