NORTHFIELD, IL - It's the most common item found at parties and was made into a famous Toby Keith song. The "Red Solo Cup" was developed by the Solo Cup Company and its President/CEO Robert Leo Hulseman years ago and quickly became part of Americana. Hulseman, described as "an industry pioneer" and "hands-on manufacturing expert," died on Dec. 21, according to an obituary posted by the Donnellan Funeral Home in Skokie. He was 84.

Also credited with developing the Traveller Lid and other ubiquitous products of today, Hulseman was a religious man who lived in Northfield and spent much of his time in Scottsdale, Arizona. He began work with the Solo Cup Company - a business his father began - at age 18 and over the course of 60 years served the company in several roles.

As president and CEO, he "oversaw the company's growth into one of the largest food service packaging companies in the world," according to the obituary. "He was known as an innovator, a hands-on manufacturing expert, and an industry pioneer." Hulseman was the devoted husband of the late Sheila Murphy Hulseman for nearly six decades. A close friend of the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, Hulseman "filled countless notebooks with poems that expressed his knowledge of God's love, his devotion to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and the great love he shared with his wife."