Blog

Zack Hogan and John Kovalan took to the stage in late July to present at the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology Conference.

Schmidt comes to O’Shea from Memorial Health System, where he worked for 12 years, most recently as CEO of Passavant Area Hospital in Jacksonville. During his career at Memorial, he was Manager of Information Technology Customer Support and served as Vice President of Facilities Management.

Get to know Devin Powell, Construction Administrator!

O’Shea Builders started when John Timothy O’Shea (O’Shea President Mike O’Shea’s great-grandfather) listed himself as a contractor in the Springfield, Illinois City Directory in 1900.

     His parents, James and Johanna O’Shea, immigrated to the United States in 1852 from Ireland, at the end of its devastating potato famine. About two million Irish fled here to escape hunger and poverty, according to the Library of Congress.

Beach started his career in construction as a union carpenter, moving to foreman, then superintendent for Stelle Construction, Associated Contractors and Clayco. He has worked on many notable higher education and healthcare projects such residence and dining halls at the University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign, Heartland Community College’s Workforce Development Center, and Carle Spine Clinic. 

Kelly Boston fondly recalls the excitement from her and her sister Janelle Boston Fanning when their father built them the clubhouse they’d been begging for as children.

“He also constructed several sheds around the house for farm equipment and tools, and he built our brick family home in 1986,” Kelly says. “My dad is a very self-taught man when it comes to construction, and he is very particular about the construction process every inch of the way.  Even though he didn’t make a living in the construction industry, I could tell it was something he was passionate about.”

Get to know one of our "super" Superintendents, Gene Alexander!

Twelve years ago this summer, O’Shea Builders’ biggest fan and some say its toughest advocate passed away. That was Helene O’Shea, Bud’s first wife and mother of David, Maureen, Linda, and Mike.

Bud met Helene after high school through a local group for Catholic youth. The group had regular social events like picnics and dances. At one dance, it was Helene’s birthday and Bud requested the song “The Old, Gray Mare” be played for her. She was always fondly teasing him and he returned the favor. It worked. “That was the start of us,” Bud says.

Get to know one of our newest Estimators, Keagan Dooley!

Everything.

At O’Shea, our word -- or our promise - is how we measure our work and ourselves. It’s a value that originated with Bud O’Shea’s grandfather and O’Shea founder, John Timothy O’Shea, more than 100 years ago. He started the business in 1900 when he listed himself in the Springfield City Directory as a “contractor.”

As Austin Barton was growing up, dirt bikes were the ideal mode of transportation on his family’s farm in Nebo, Ill.

“I started riding at six years old; it was the best way to get around the farm,” he says. “I got bigger bikes as I grew older and eventually I started racing them when I was 15. I raced throughout high school and college.”

Get to know our Communications Coordinator, Brittany Henton!

Mike Sunley, senior project manager, really was “born to build.” As long as Mike can remember, he knew the construction industry was for him. “I grew up with tools and always had an interest in building and improving things, so when I was in kindergarten, I said I wanted to be an architect.”

But his dream of being an architect was short lived for young Mike. Instead of designing facilities, Mike decided he wanted to build them. Since Mike is the third generation of his family to work in the construction industry, he knew where to go to learn about the industry.

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

In April, O’Shea hosted the Illinois Department of Transportation’s Engineering Explorers (EE) Post #6 program in O’Shea University. The program is a part of the Boy Scouts of America Learning for Life, and it introduces students from high school freshmen through college freshmen to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) topics/activities and other engineering-related fields.

During their visit to O’Shea, the students listened to a presentation from Mike Sunley, senior project manager, Janelle Fanning, project manager, and Adam Schmidt, project engineer. The group learned about how engineering relates to construction. Mike, Janelle, and Adam also highlighted a few of their projects successes and challenges throughout their O’Shea careers.