John R. Oishei (18 January 1886 – 27 January 1968) was a businessman who founded

Trico Trico is an American company that specializes in windshield wipers. Trico, then known as Tri-Continental Corporation, invented the windshield wiper blade in 1917. Its original Trico Plant No. 1 is listed on the National Register of Historic Plac ...

products and became one of Buffalo’s wealthiest citizens and philanthropists.

Early life

John R. Oishei was born in Buffalo in 1886 to Charles Humbert Oishei and Julia (Roffo) Oishei. Oishei's grandfather, Giuseppe "Joseph" Oishei, immigrated to the United States from

Lombardy, Italy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

in 1859. By 1868, Joseph owned a saloon on Buffalo's Prime Street and by 1861, owned another saloon and restaurant on Ohio Street in Buffalo. Joseph married Adelheide Von Wildt and had three children: Charles (John's father), Aurelia and Amelia. At the time of Joseph's death in 1878, he owned the Golden Gate Hotel at 160 Exchange Street in Buffalo. Charles, aged 19, took over responsibility for the family for his deceased father and by 1890, graduated from Buffalo Law School and set up a law practice. Oishei was one of eight children to Charles and Julia: John R. Oishei, Stella Oishei, Camilla Oishei, Bertha Oishei, Charles Oishei Jr., Bernard Oishei, Florence Oishei, and William Oishei. Julia died, aged 40, in 1904, and Charles remarried to Leonora Oishei and had three more children: Muriel Oishei, Harriet Oishei, and Willis Oishei.

Career

In 1916, Oishei was traveling down Delaware Avenue near Virginia Street in downtown Buffalo during a rainstorm. A

bicyclist Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of Bicycle, cycles for transport, recreation, Physical exercise, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", ...

ran into the National Roadster he was driving at the time. Oishei never saw him coming, and even though the cyclist was not seriously injured, Oishei vowed to never let that happen again. He sought out the best technology available at the time to create the first

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with Wheel, wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, pe ...

wiper blades and grew the idea from a simple fix to worldwide use. In 1917, John R. Oishei founded Trico Products Corporation He looked around for a way to clear moisture from a driver's line of vision, and decided to invest in the national marketing of an edged, hand-pulled rubber squeegee that was produced in Buffalo by an engineer named John Jepson. Within three years, Oishei's sales team had successfully sold the accessory to

Packard Packard or Packard Motor Car Company was an American luxury automobile company located in Detroit, Michigan. The first Packard automobiles were produced in 1899, and the last Packards were built in South Bend, Indiana in 1958. One of the "Thr ...

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Cadillac The Cadillac Motor Car Division () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) that designs and builds luxury vehicles. Its major markets are the United States, Canada, and China. Cadillac models are distributed i ...

and Buffalo's own

Pierce-Arrow The Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company was an American motor vehicle manufacturer based in Buffalo, New York, which was active from 1901 to 1938. Although best known for its expensive luxury cars, Pierce-Arrow also manufactured commercial trucks ...

Buyout of Jepson

Through those sales, Oishei raised enough capital to buy out Jepson in 1919 and when

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

ended, he expanded availability of the product to Europe and beyond. Although maintaining cash flow to service early loans made Trico's initial survival a dicey proposition, its success was assured following the immediate post-World War I automotive boom. Early on, most Trico sales were the easily refitted squeegee that fit in the slot of two-piece windshields. For one-piece glass, Trico offered a spring-loaded arcing wiper that was operated by hand and pivoted across the field of vision. Although Trico did not invent the wiper motor, it did come up with a reliable unit run by an engine's manifold vacuum that quickly became the industry standard, especially in the aftermarket. Cadillac was the first to make these powered wipers standard. In 1934, that refillable wiper was redesigned to fit the new curved windshields, complete with internal springs to ensure constant pressure across the glass. Two years later, Trico introduced a powered windshield washer. In 1937, its wipers were standard across the entire U.S. auto industry. Trico eventually became one of the world's leading manufacturers of automotive windshield wiping equipment.

Personal life

Oishei married Estelle Low on April 21, 1908. Together, they had: *R. John Oishei (born 1910) *Julian Oishei (born 1910) *Patricia Oishei (born 1916) Estelle died of a heart attack on August 11, 1938. He was a member of the

Country Club of Buffalo A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while th ...

, the Saturn Club, president of the Buffalo Club (elected in 1948) where he participated in an elite group within the Club designated the "Society of the Buffalo." At his death in Buffalo in 1968, Oishei had $44 million () in stocks and bonds and approximately $1 million () in insurance policies.

The John R. Oishei Foundation

In 1940, Oishei established the Foundation, formerly known as the "Julia R. and Estelle L. Foundation." He funded it with annual contributions and with charitable remainder trusts. Oishei served as President of the Foundation from its founding until his death in 1968. The Foundation concentrated its support to hospitals and schools in the Buffalo area with the balance being directed to cultural and social services needs. Until 1997, all Foundation contributions were made on an anonymous basis. This was consistent with the procedures Oishei followed with regard to the substantial charitable gifts he personally made during his lifetime. His penchant for total anonymity was driven by his strong sense of modesty and of equally strong belief that anonymity allowed him to make his philanthropic decisions with greater objectivity. As of December 2015, the Foundation has $300 million in assets and gives away nearly $20 million annually. It is among the region’s most well-known grantmakers, providing resources for programs, capital projects and nonprofit executive development and in the last few years alone, it provided multimillion-dollar gifts to the largest health and education projects in Western New York. This includes a $10 million donation to develop the now-renamed John R. Oishei Children's Hospital.

References

External links

John R. Oishei FoundationThe John R. Oishei Children's Hospital
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oishei, John R. 1886 births 1968 deaths Burials at Forest Lawn Cemetery (Buffalo) American business executives Businesspeople from Buffalo, New York 20th-century American businesspeople