Milwaukee The First Time, A. O. Smith
"By 1950 I had joined A. O. Smith and eventually became a vice president and division manager. Studying evenings, I got a masters degree in economics at Marquette by 1955. We had a nice apartment on Lake Shore Drive [in Milwaukee]. Although much of Margaret's life was involved with her cousins (daughters of the Desmond girls0 she seemed to welcome the opportunity to break away and make new friends. It was strange, she never complained about the entertaining she had to do in my various management jobs or travels, but upon retiring years later announced she had had it and was through entertaining for business and she meant it. There wasn't much variety beyond A. O. S. So not much to writ about this era.
Granite City
"In 1954 I became manager of a troubled automotive frame plant in Granite City, Illinois, across the river from St. Louis. There had been lots of labor unrest there and I felt that the previous management had made a mistake living in St. Louis - and I decided to live in Granite City, a true blue-collar town, to stay close to the action.
"This assignment was a watershed in our lives. Being manager of a plant employing several hundred people put me among the leaders of the community, on the board of directors of organizations like the Chamber of Commerce, United Fund, etc. Margaret was sought after by womens' groups where her natural leadership ability became apparent. Tommy was in the army. This was a union town but the company didn't hook up with the local steelworkers when it came in, instead signing with the boilermakers. We hired people from distressed towns miles away, and did other strange things to avoid being "sucked into the local union power structure." As a result, when our boilermakers' leaders began to be unreasonable neither the local managers nor union leaders were helpful. How it was resolved is another story, but the plant became profitable and I was promoted back to Milwaukee in 1960. Unfortunately, I'm convinced this location was the cause of Margaret's cancer. While we couldn't see anything, we were downwind of a coke plant and a starch factory both of which polluted our air. Before we left Margaret had serious respiratory problems which went away quickly in Milwaukee.
Milwaukee: The Second Time
"We moved to a home on Lake Michigan, Palisades Drive, and loved the sunrise over the lake. Laura, Margaret's Mother, moved in with us and had her own suite, joining us for meals, etc. until she died in 1963. Margaret made friends with some couples at church and we did lots of things together. My first assignment was to straighten out a 500-man maintenance department at A. O. S. Milwaukee Works. This worked out extremely well and I was promoted to Vice President and General Manager of our heavy equipment division about the time we finished a reactor for a nuclear submarine. It worked out well and Admiral Rickover offered us more reactors and other nuclear sub components which we took. This large percentage of Navy business gave them a clout over our commercial business when it came to delivery. Then the Navy decided to put in new welding inspection standards. We didn't know how to price them, and under pressure named a nominal increase. Unfortunately, the many in-process weld inspections delayed our production cycle and we lost our shirts. This, coupled with the delay in domestic business, put the division in a loss situation and it was decided to sell out to Chicago Bridge. I was put on the staff to wait for a new assignment. Laura Died, and we took a vacation to Hawaii and Las Vegas. I received a wire telling me to report to the president when I returned.
Erie and Tommy and Family
"I was offered the management of a petroleum division in Erie. Obviously, this was an offer I couldn't refuse. Margaret balked. She like our home, its location and the friends we had made. I told her I had to go and left for Erie. When I returned home the next weekend I found she had sold our house and was ready to join me.
"In 1964 electronics was just beginning to be important in industrial controls. We fostered this business and sold "systems" rather than just components quite successfully. We opened plants in Houston, Germany and South Africa, and licensees in Philippines, Mexico, England, and other places. This gave me an excuse for foreign travel. On my last trip I took Margaret and we spent time in Mexico, South Africa, Greece, Paris Germany and London. Meanwhile Tommy's Family was growing. Johnny was born while we were in Milwaukee and used to stay with us for days at a time. When Joe and Bill came along we were in Erie and the family would visit us. On one occasion they brought my Mother along. We took John to the World's Fair in Canada one year, he was 10 and rather immature in his attitude. I don't know what caused it, but within the next year he had a mind of his own, was willing to try anything, almost a new personality. When I became 63 and eligible for social security I got restless and told the company I was retiring. I had been grooming Bill Thompson as a replacement and announced he was ready to take over. Nixon had put a wage and price freeze on the economy and no one knew what to expect. I was sent to Washington as V.P. of Government Relations to protect our interests. During the next several months I became acquainted with the Erie Congressman, Milwaukee's Senator Proxmire, their staffs and the staffs of the Wage Control Board, the Price Control Board and OSHA, which had just been created. I felt that the A. O. S. Vice Presidents could do a better job representing their divisions than I, so I introduced them to the key people in these areas in Washington and announced I was ready for retirement. The company paid my salary until my 65th birthday to maximize my pension. I was awarded engraved mementos from the City of Erie and A.O.S., a couple of luncheons and was gone."
A postcard received while Tom and Margaret were on one of their "business" trips in March, 1970 prior to Tom retiring from A. O. Smith.
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