William Rheem

William S. Rheem (1862 – April 19, 1919),[1] a.k.a. W.S. Rheem,[1] was an important civic figure in the politics of early Richmond, California in addition to being president of the Standard Oil Company of California (today's Chevron Corporation) from 1917 until his death.[1]

William Rheem
Born1862 (1862)
Minnesota, United States
DiedApril 19, 1919(1919-04-19) (aged 56–57)
Santa Cruz, California
OccupationBusinessman
EmployerStandard Oil

Overview

Rheem was born in Minnesota and raised in Pennsylvania.[1] At age 23, he became a chemist for Standard Oil in Franklin, Pennsylvania.[1] He later led the construction efforts for a Standard Oil refinery in Whiting, Indiana.[1] In 1911, Standard Oil acquired the Pacific Coast Oil Company of California. Rheem was dispatched to Alameda, California to manage their refinery.[1]

In October 1901, Rheem arrived in Point Richmond (then called East Yards) after finding a spot for a new refinery to replace the Alameda facility.[1][2] He chose a spot in the Point Richmond District along the Potrero Hills and the Marshlands.[2] A colossal facility was built at this site employing thousands and drastically transforming a farming community of a few hundred into a company town of several thousand.[2] As the installations where completed Rheem remained with the company as the superintendent of the Richmond Refinery.[1][2] Rheem became first vice president of Pacific Coast Oil in 1914.[1] In 1917, he was elected president of the company, then called Standard Oil Company of California. He replaced the company's first president D. G. Scofield, who committed suicide.[1]

On April 19, 1919, Rheem died of a heart attack en route to Santa Cruz during a family outing.[1]

Legacy

Rheem Creek, a small river in the Hilltop District and Rheem Avenue a street in the Central Richmond District are named in his honor.

Personal life

Two of Rheem's sons, Donald and Richard, founded what is now Rheem Manufacturing Company, in 1925. Another son, William K., and grandson William S. Rheem II, played smaller roles in the company.[3][4][5][6]

gollark: That's just a sort of preambley bit.
gollark: ```I can’t even say what’s wrong with PHP, because— okay. Imagine youhave uh, a toolbox. A set of tools. Looks okay, standard stuff inthere.You pull out a screwdriver, and you see it’s one of those weirdtri-headed things. Okay, well, that’s not very useful to you, butyou guess it comes in handy sometimes.You pull out the hammer, but to your dismay, it has the claw part onboth sides. Still serviceable though, I mean, you can hit nails withthe middle of the head holding it sideways.You pull out the pliers, but they don’t have those serratedsurfaces; it’s flat and smooth. That’s less useful, but it stillturns bolts well enough, so whatever.And on you go. Everything in the box is kind of weird and quirky,but maybe not enough to make it completely worthless. And there’s noclear problem with the set as a whole; it still has all the tools.Now imagine you meet millions of carpenters using this toolbox whotell you “well hey what’s the problem with these tools? They’re allI’ve ever used and they work fine!” And the carpenters show you thehouses they’ve built, where every room is a pentagon and the roof isupside-down. And you knock on the front door and it just collapsesinwards and they all yell at you for breaking their door.That’s what’s wrong with PHP.```From the fractal of bad design article.
gollark: Are you suggesting Assembly is fine for webapps too?
gollark: I don't really believe that.]
gollark: The "wrong"ness of opinions, I guess, depends if your disagreement is based on aesthetic preference differences, or wrong facts/logic.

References
  1. Rego, Nilda (January 18, 2009). "Chevron Beginnings: W.S. Rheem". Contra Costa Times. Retrieved February 19, 2009.
  2. The Early Years 1902 - 1914, Chevron website, access date 02-19-2009
  3. "RHEEM MANUFACTURING COMPANY HISTORICAL TIME LINE" (PDF). ASHRAE.
  4. Rego, Nilda (May 9, 2010). "Days Gone By: Donald Rheem's grasp equaled his reach throughout Moraga and Orinda". East Bay Times, Digital First Media. Retrieved July 7, 2016.
  5. Don Pitcher (June 12, 2012). Moon San Juan Islands. Avalon Travel Publishing. pp. 273–. ISBN 978-1-61238-057-5. Retrieved July 7, 2016.
  6. "Rheem Manufacturing Names Vice President" (PDF). The New York Times. June 28, 1955. Retrieved July 7, 2016.


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