Thomas Francis Hennig Jr., Founder of the Tom Hennig Company:
Born and raised in San Francisco, California. A graduate of St. Charles’ School, Sacred Heart High School and University of San Francisco. After graduating from USF he enlisted in the Navy. Then following his military career he entered the world of sales and married Helen Breslin. Tom joined Ditz Brothers, the Caterpillar Tractor dealer in San Jose, California in the late1940s. He headed the industrial department for over thirteen years.
This job launched Tom on his long career of providing the equipment needed to transform the development of the Santa Clara Valley and the State of California. Because of Tom’s ability to understand all aspects of the market place and values of a diverse array of used equipment, he was able to take in trades on new equipment from every manufacturer.
As the franchise grew in strength and capital, the jealousy from other dealers was heard in Peoria. In 1962, the Ditz Brothers franchise was cancelled and given to Peterson Tractor.
This was a turning point in Tom’s life, either stay with what he knew with Caterpillar or venture out on his own. He chose the latter, and quickly secured the rights to liquidate the Ball and Simpson Company.
This took an entire year of his time and he decided there must be a better way. This led him down the road to liquidation by auction. He first started selling local construction companies which led to the selling of mines and quarries, machine tools, manufacturing plants, and on and on until he secured first-hand knowledge of almost all industries.
The selling of this equipment expanded throughout the globe. This experience and knowledge has been passed down to Tom’s children; the present owners and operators of Tom Hennig Company.
Tom was a past president of Navy League affiliated with Moffett Field, past president of the Woodside Priory Foundation and later in life became a Knight of Malta. Through his lifetime he promoted education and had a deep regard for the less fortunate.
