Who’s Who In Hardwoods – May 2026
Kirkwood Stair & Millwork: Operational Since 1899
John Sappington is the plant manager for Kirkwood Stair & Millwork in Pacific, MO.
Kirkwood Stair & Millwork has been in business since 1899 and is a leading designer and manufacturer of stair parts, circular staircases, mouldings and millwork, doors and architectural beams, arched and curved millwork, countertops, bar tops and prefabricated stair systems.
Sappington purchases between 400,000 and 500,000 board feet annually of Poplar, Red and White Oak, Hard Maple, Cherry, Birch, Hickory, Ash and yellow pine, as well as imported species like Sapele, Jatoba and Wenge in FAS, Select & Better, No. 1 Common, SAP & Better, 4/4 through 12/4 (all kiln-dried to furniture specs).
Sappington attended Kirkwood High School, located in Kirkwood, MO. He attended St. Louis Community College and studied lean manufacturing, lean supply chain, and accounting from St. Louis University School of Business. Sappington has worked for Kirkwood Stair & Millwork for 20 years. He began working in the forest products industry in 1991 as a cabinetmaker.
Kirkwood Stair & Millwork is a member of the St. Louis Home Builders Association and the Certified Builders Guild and has had staircases featured in Architectural Digest.
In his free time, Sappington enjoys coaching football and spending time with his dog Otis. He has been married to Suzan for 40 years and the couple has three sons, one daughter, and five grandchildren.
For more information, visit kstair.com.
John Griffin: Vice President Of Frank Paxton Lumber Company
John Griffin is regional vice president of Frank Paxton Lumber Company (Paxton), one of the industrial flagship brands of ADENTRA Inc. ADENTRA is a world-class distributor of architectural products through a vast North American network of 83 regional customer service centers, they aim to provide best-in-class supply solutions to over 75,000 customers and clients and do so using four channels to market: industrial, home center, ProDealer and architects and designers.
Griffin is based in Paxton’s Denver office and has oversight of their Cincinnati, Kansas City and San Antonio locations. Paxton purchases over 10 million board feet of Hardwood lumber products yearly, while the ADENTRA companies sell over $230 million in Hardwood lumber annually. Hardwood species include primarily Alder, Ash, Basswood, Beech, Birch, Cherry, Hickory, Hard and Soft Maple, Red and White Oak, Walnut and Poplar, as well as a variety of imported species with a range of thicknesses from 4/4 to 16/4, as well as specialty width sorts and grades from both rough and surfaced material.
Paxton is a manufacturer, importer and niche distributor of premium Hardwood lumber, millwork and architectural sheet goods. Each of their facilities manufactures custom architectural millwork and mouldings, and their extensive network of industry relationships enables their team to import or source wood products worldwide, reflecting the company as an industry leader. Each of the Paxton branches provide industrial will call and delivery services in each of their markets. The Paxton Cincinnati and Denver branches offer retail services as well in those markets. Each branch offers value added services including surface planers, ripping, moulding and sanding services.
Griffin has been in the forest products industry for 33 years, with his first job being an inside sales representative at Paxton and he has held the position of vice president for 18 years. He also served on the National Hardwood Lumber Association board from 2017-2024. Griffin attended Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business.
In his free time, Griffin enjoys spending time with family and friends, traveling, men’s league hockey and has volunteered as a high school hockey play by play announcer.
Griffin has been married to Colleen Griffin for 23 years and has two sons.
Paxton is a member of National Hardwood Lumber Association and the Indiana Hardwood Lumbermens Association.
For more information, visit www.paxtonwood.com or www.adentragroup.com.
Landmark Lumber Group: Handling Domestic And Imported Species
Eddie Deavers is the purchasing manager at Landmark Lumber Group, formerly known as Mann and Parker Lumber Co., located in New Freedom, PA. They are a distribution/concentration yard that purchases green lumber, of which they purchase 280,000 board feet of Poplar in thickness of 4/4; 100,000 board feet of Poplar in thickness of 5/4; 120,000 board feet of Soft Maple in thickness of 4/4; 50,000 board feet of Hard Maple in thickness of 4/4; 20,000 board feet of Red Oak in thickness of 4/4; 20,000 board feet of White Oak in thickness of 4/4; and 20 to 30,000 board feet of miscellaneous hardwoods in thickness of 4/4, all in grades Common and Better. They purchase approximately 200,000 board feet of kiln-dried, mostly in thick stock items or specialty products.
Landmark Lumber Group handles lumber in thicknesses of 4/4 through 8/4 in domestic hardwoods and some imports, as well as thermally modified hardwoods and yellow pine. They also offer Poplar stair parts, Red and White Oak stair treads and tread blanks. They have an on-site mill shop for custom mouldings.
Deavers started at Mann and Parker Lumber Co. in 2017 where he started as a salesperson for Maryland and Virginia before being moved to a purchasing representative in 2019. He then worked at Danzer of North America for about eight months before returning to be purchasing manager in November 2021 after Mann and Parker Lumber was bought by PNC Hardwoods.
Deavers graduated from Hanover High School before attending California University of Pennsylvania where he studied wildlife and fishery. He received a bachelor’s degree in environmental sciences.
Deavers enjoys riding motorcycles, fishing and hunting. He also keeps two fresh water and four saltwater fish tanks which total 241 gallons. He has been in a committed relationship for seven years and has a dog and a cat.
For more information, visit landmarklumber.us.
