Switch around the tests in the start script
It will make things more readable if the script invocations in the
if statements come first.

The while loop might avoid a needless call to getpids by
checking the value of COUNT first. (This is probably dependent upon
the shell being run, but normally the loop gets broken if the first
term is false).
Do not set PIDS to zero unless we are restarting
Use PREFIX to simplify program file search in start script
You would have to edit the script if you wanted to use a
directory other than /usr/local/bin or /usr/local/sbin.

Losing some automation in order to simplify things and be a bit
more flexible seems to a worthwhile tradeoff.
On success echo an "OK!" and add a warning if service start fails
Make stopping the service less verbose
If there was a problem stopping then the message about sending a
kill signal will still be displayed.
Fix comment
Specify BINDIR and remove search
It makes things much simpler if the responsibility for finding
out that program files are missing lies elsewhere.
Move PROGPATH from main invocation loop to a new loop at the top
Capital D's for Deadwood in master branch