Henry J. Kaiser
| Henry J. Kaiser | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
May 9, 1882 Sprout Brook, New York, U.S. |
| Died | August 24, 1967 (aged 85) Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S. |
| Occupation | Industrialist, shipbuilder |
| Children |
Edgar Kaiser, Sr Henry Kaiser, Jr. |
| Relatives |
Edgar Kaiser, Jr (grandson) Henry Kaiser (grandson) |
Henry John Kaiser (May 9, 1882 – August 24, 1967) was an American industrialist who became known as the father of modern American shipbuilding. He established the Kaiser Shipyards, which built Liberty ships during World War II, after which he formed Kaiser Aluminum and Kaiser Steel. Kaiser organized Kaiser Permanente health care for his workers and their families. He led Kaiser-Frazer followed by Kaiser Motors, automobile companies known for the safety of their designs. Kaiser was involved in large construction projects such as civic centers and dams, and invested in real estate. With his wealth, he established the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit, non-partisan, charitable organization.
Kaiser was born on May 9, 1882, in Sprout Brook, New York, the son of Franz and Anna Marie (née Yops) Kaiser, ethnic German immigrants. His father was a shoemaker. Kaiser's first job was as a cash boy in an Utica, New York, department store at the age of 16. He worked as an apprentice photographer early in life, and was running the studio in Lake Placid by the age of twenty. He used his savings to move to Washington state on the west coast of the United States in 1906, where he started a construction company that fulfilled government contracts.
Kaiser met his future wife, Bess Fosburgh, the daughter of a Virginia lumberman, when she came into his photographic shop in Lake Placid, New York to buy some film. Fosburgh's father demanded that Kaiser show that he was financially stable before he would consent to the marriage; Kaiser moved to Spokane and became a top salesman at a hardware company, returning ten months later with enough money to placate his future father-in-law. They married on April 8, 1907, and had two children, Edgar Kaiser, Sr and Henry Kaiser, Jr.
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