Welcome! Here are the website rules, as well as some tips for using this forum.
Need to contact us? Visit https://heatinghelp.com/contact-us/.
Click here to Find a Contractor in your area.

The End of a Dinasty

EdTheHeaterMan
EdTheHeaterMan Member Posts: 9,317

When I was in my 50s I was told that the F. P. Young company was the largest independent fuel oil dealer in the city of Philadelphia. I never knew that until well after my father and his brothers sold the family business in the 1990s. It was almost ten years after the sale that I was told that.

Today We held a funeral for my Uncle Joe, the last of the brothers that built that company in the 1950s and 1960s to be that power house in the retail home heating oil that was my family's legacy

Joseph Anthony Young February 7 1934 - November 8 2024.Β Β 

Joe Young, along with his older brothers John Young and Frank Young were innovators in this residential heating industry in Philadelphia.Β  They went door to door to ask those families that had fuel oil tank fill pipes on their homes, if they wanted to purchase fuel from F P Young company. Β  That hard work was what made the family fuel business grow.Β Β 

Today we celebrated the life of Joseph Young

Edward Young Retired

After you make that expensive repair and you still have the same problem, What will you check next?

Larry WeingartenMad Dog_2PC7060RevenantIntplm.delcrossvEBEBRATT-EdLRCCBJDJD775mattmia2Fmassarotto_9IronmanSlamDunkMikeAmannleonzPRRErin Holohan HaskellAlan (California Radiant) ForbesBigpickle18Jalen_Jalen2006

Comments

  • hot_rod
    hot_rod Member Posts: 23,275

    A toast to Joe. Sounds like he was a get β€˜er done type of guy.

    Bob "hot rod" Rohr
    trainer for Caleffi NA
    Living the hydronic dream
    EdTheHeaterMan
  • Mad Dog_2
    Mad Dog_2 Member Posts: 7,508
  • DanHolohan
    DanHolohan Member, Moderator, Administrator Posts: 16,599

    Well done, Joe, and beautifully said, Ed.

    Retired and loving it.
    EdTheHeaterMan
  • ScottSecor
    ScottSecor Member Posts: 897

    "Uncle Joe" has joined the well respected club we often refer to on this site. Think of all the techs and homeowners that have or will get to see the heating systems Joe's hands have touched.

    EdTheHeaterManMad Dog_2
  • Long Beach Ed
    Long Beach Ed Member Posts: 1,311

    Rest peacefully.

    EdTheHeaterMan
  • Intplm.
    Intplm. Member Posts: 2,178

    @EdTheHeaterMan So sorry for your loss. Rest in peace, Uncle Joe.

    EdTheHeaterMan
  • HomerJSmith
    HomerJSmith Member Posts: 2,635

    What is remarkable to me is that he made a living by helping others when so many others are in it for themselves. I've met great contractors and some that I wouldn't go near with a 10' pole. I will never do business with an associate or customer that steals whether it be money, tools, or time.

    I'm reminded of a true story about a cotton broker during the Great Depression who would buy a farmer's cotton and pay the farmer based upon the grade of the cotton. That day the cotton broker's son did the grading and when the father reviewed the transaction he discovered that the son had mis-graded the purchase and paid the farmer less than was due for the quality. He made his son drive out to the farmer and pay the farmer for the difference, one dollar and seventy five cents. That cotton broker was a quality person. We need more like him, today.

    delcrossvLRCCBJMad Dog_2EdTheHeaterMan
  • EBEBRATT-Ed
    EBEBRATT-Ed Member Posts: 16,400

    RIP Joe Young. Sorry for your loss. (0 years a full life.

    EdTheHeaterMan
  • mattmia2
    mattmia2 Member Posts: 10,854

    I'm sorry for your loss @EdTheHeaterMan .

    MikeAmannEdTheHeaterMan
  • EBEBRATT-Ed
    EBEBRATT-Ed Member Posts: 16,400

    Sorry, meant 90 years.

    EdTheHeaterMan
  • delcrossv
    delcrossv Member Posts: 1,293

    Sorry for your loss @EdTheHeaterMan .But it's clear he had a life well lived. Lotta solace in that.

    Trying to squeeze the best out of a Weil-McLain JB-5 running a 1912 1 pipe system.
    EdTheHeaterMan
  • Mad Dog_2
    Mad Dog_2 Member Posts: 7,508

    While we are here on Earth it is incumbent on us to hold the line, keep standards high and pass on what we can to those respectful & worthy. That is what those that swung the wrenches before us did. Mad Dog

    EdTheHeaterManIntplm.
  • gyrfalcon
    gyrfalcon Member Posts: 179

    My condolences.

    Slant Fin Galaxy GG100(1986) , 2 zone hot water baseboard, T87 Honeywell thermostats.Β 
    EdTheHeaterMan
  • leonz
    leonz Member Posts: 1,337

    I am very sorry for your loss, the pain from the loss of a loved one never goes away.

    EdTheHeaterMan
  • Erin Holohan Haskell
    Erin Holohan Haskell Member, Moderator, Administrator Posts: 2,354

    Thanks for sharing this beautiful tribute with us @EdTheHeaterMan. I'm so sorry for your loss.

    President
    HeatingHelp.com

    EdTheHeaterMan
  • Brianthedj70
    Brianthedj70 Member Posts: 2

    This is the strangest thing. For some reason the last few weeks I've been reminiscing about when I was younger. And I thought of my mom's workplace. I remember picking her up there during the holidays and at Christmas time they would have a big holiday party with a lot of food and they would always give my mom food to take home the I remember Joe very well he hired me to clean a garage out around the corner from Young's oil. I believe it was the late 80s early 90s. Frank, Joe,and John.treated my mom and all of the employees like family. It's this strange scene this article posted when it just popped into my head like 2 weeks ago whatever happened to everyone I was trying to look up on the internet I found Joan's daughter on Facebook a couple weeks ago and we were talking about the old times. I drove by where F.P.Young's was at 8 years ago it is totally just grass now and a little Hill you would never know it was ever there on the Olney Avenue I remember DePaul being right across the street. It was so sad driving by there you would never know they were ever there. But I will always cherish the memories.They always let me come in the office and I remember always smelling that oil smell I loved it lol.R.I.P. Joe I will never forget how nice you and your brothers were to my mom and to all of us when we would come pick her up. In case anyone is wondering my mom is Catherine Mitchell but everybody called her Kay. And the crazy part is my Aunt Claire is cousins with the youngs. My mom worked for Young's for many years then my uncle ended up marrying Claire and my mom found out she was cousins with all of them small world.

  • Brianthedj70
    Brianthedj70 Member Posts: 2

    Unfortunately my mom passed away back in 2012 from cancer my dad back in 2009😒 and I heard that's what happened to Joan Dehaven and her husband. We tried to get a hold of Lou Wagner for my Mom and Dad's anniversary back in 2001 but we could never track her down. I imagine most of them are gone now Joe was the same age as my mom. I remember meeting some of their children that drove the oil trucks. But I was so young. They will all never be forgotten πŸ™πŸ™πŸ™πŸ™πŸ™πŸ™πŸ™πŸ™πŸ™πŸ™πŸ™

  • EdTheHeaterMan
    EdTheHeaterMan Member Posts: 9,317

    @Brianthedj70, Thanks for sharing this memory with me. It actually saddens me to drive on the 800 block of Olney ave. There is nothing left of the place.

    Edward Young Retired

    After you make that expensive repair and you still have the same problem, What will you check next?

  • Robert O'Brien
    Robert O'Brien Member Posts: 3,562

    I'm almost positive it was Frank Young being quoted in a trade magazine about selling dog food and giving away puppies. Late 60's?

    To learn more about this professional, click here to visit their ad in Find A Contractor.
  • EdTheHeaterMan
    EdTheHeaterMan Member Posts: 9,317

    That sounds like him. Β 

    His most common comment was "we sell machines that eat" He was on a business trip and was seated on a plane (they may have had propellers back then) when the person next to him struck up a conversation about the reason for each other's trip. Β  The other passenger sold stapling machines.Β  Like for publishing companies.Β  He mentioned that they were basically in the same business. Β  This puzzled my uncle Frank because he did not see the connection between OIL and Stapling machines.Β  Then the man said once you sell an oil burner , that burner eats OIL, just like my stapling machines eat Staples.Β Β 

    You sell a machine that eats and the owner of that machine will be your customer for as long as you treat them with good service at a fair price.Β 


    Edward Young Retired

    After you make that expensive repair and you still have the same problem, What will you check next?

    PC7060
  • CoachBoilermaker
    CoachBoilermaker Member Posts: 340

    You have a freakish good memory to recall that over 50 years later! WOW