OLDFIELD EQUIPMENT COMPANY

The first real job I had was at a company named Oldfield Equipment Company in Cincinnati, Ohio. The owner, John Oldfield, got his start selling war surplus pumps after WWII. From this start, his business grew into sales of farm irrigation systems including portable piping and sprinklers, expanded into aluminum barn siding and roofing, and finally got into the new field of underground sprinkler irrigation systems for golf courses. I was hired to design these irrigation systems as I was experienced in piping design on co-op job while going to UC. I progressed into the sales of the systems and the every day sales of the materials we stocked. The department was headed up by Roger Conklin who grew up on his family's farm in Xenia, Ohio. He was very mechanically inclined and disliked the office. I was his way to get out and spend most of his time on the jobsites. We were very successful and became well known and respected all over the Midwest. In my last years there, we began the actual building of golf courses and we were looking at entering the field of municipal water line installation. Roger left in about 1972 and I left in 1974. The company still exists with different owners but long ago gave up on irrigation systems and related construction. John Oldfield and his business partners, also owned the Golden Tee Golf Center in Sharonville and some industrial real estate in Carthage.