Building the O'Shea Legacy

The year was 1965. Construction finished on the St. Louis Arch. The popular soap opera, “Days of Our Lives,” debuted. The Beach Boys’  “California Girls” and “Help Me, Rhonda,” were climbing the billboard charts, and “The Sound of Music” became the musical movie of the year. It was also the year Darrel Grider joined the O’Shea Team.

Darrel had worked as an apprentice for a local realtor building houses in what would become Cherry Hills and Indian Hills in Springfield. But the residential work dried up and Darrel was laid off. As is often the case, when one door closes another opens. For Darrel that door was the opportunity to work for O’Shea. His career at O’Shea, which would span four decades while working under four O’Shea family members

“I was lucky enough to work for all the O’Shea’s, Harold, Bud, Helene, and Mike. I loved working with them, and I wish I could still work for them. This is a great company, and they were very good to me,” Darrel said.

During his career, Darrel worked as a superintendent building grocery stores, churches, gas stations, and General Telephone buildings along the river. His favorite job was a house he helped build for Walter and Ruth Friedman, who were owners of a women’s apparel store in downtown Springfield. “It was this large, grand house out by the lake not far from the State Police, and it had big glass doors and beams, almost like something you’d see in a commercial. Once finished, the house was beautiful, and I was very proud of it,” he said.

Darrel’s last jobsite was at the Stratton Building in Springfield, and he reminisced with pride how the job was suppose to finish in a year but finished in nine months. Darrel “officially” retired from O’Shea at age 70, but Darrel wasn’t ready to hang up his tool belt yet. Shortly after retirement, Darrel started working for O’Shea again in the shop on 10 ½ Street repairing tools and equipment.

Looking to the future, Darrel believes O’Shea will continue to grow for many years. “I hope this company has many more years of success. They deserve it. O’Shea has always taken care of me, and I loved every day on the job, so I can only hope others will experience what I did,” Darrel said.

Two people who are currently experiencing the “O’Shea Way” are Darrel’s two grandsons, Matt Grider, project superintendent, and Brock Barnhill, carpenter. “Since I could read their name on my grandpa’s tools, I’ve always known the O’Shea name and what they’ve done for our family. To this day, my grandpa loves to hear about what projects I'm working on, and he always tells me about how he executed projects, and I laugh and tell him that his ‘old’ way takes too long,” Matt said.

And for Darrel, O’Shea carved a special place not only here in Springfield but also for himself. “In the early days, we only had six or seven carpenters in the summer, and as superintendents, we didn’t have project managers working with us. In addition, our office wasn’t nearly as big as it is today, but Harold, Bud, Helene, and Mike created a family here with all their employees, and I’m happy to be part of that family,” Darrel said.