History of E.P. Doyle
You can’t tour the western suburbs without bumping into the Doyle legacy. The Wheaton Executive Center, Glen Oak Country Club, Springbrook Medical Building, B.R. Ryall YMCA, Community Bank Wheaton/Glen Ellyn, Collision Revision Repair Centers, and Glen Ellyn Fire Station. Not to mention all those houses from the early years. The Doyle name is entwined with Glen Ellyn and surrounding communities.
-
The Legacy
-
Edward Patrick, a true craftsman, founded E.P. Doyle in 1946, and the business profited with each succeeding generation’s unique contributions. Bob, who joined the company in 1960, brought business savvy. Tim, starting in 1994, brought modernization. All three adhered to a simple, solid-as-cement belief: providing honest, high-quality work satisfies customers, and satisfied customers form a good business’ foundation. When Ed made a promise, it was his reputation on the line. When Bob makes a promise, it’s his reputation and his father’s. When Tim makes a promise, it’s his reputation as well as his father’s and grandfather’s. To let down a client would be the same as letting down three generations of great, hardworking, honest and proud men. That’s why clients don’t get let down. Ask around. The name Doyle means something around here.
“When we’re involved in a project with the Doyles, we’re almost one hundred percent certain it will be a good quality job, and it will run smoothly. All three [Ed, Bob and Tim] are the same way: they meet the schedule, pay bills, and get the job done right.”
Rob Elliot, President, Elliot Construction Corp., Glen Ellyn, who has worked with E.P. Doyle & Son since 1955
-
First Generation
-
Edward Patrick Doyle worked. He worked and worked and worked, as did many men, like himself, who lived through the Great Depression and World War II to find themselves in an America brimming, for some, with opportunity. Glen Ellyn was such a place. He built houses. He built more houses. He established a reputation so strong, Ed could walk into Village Hall, sketch a proposed job, and walk out with a permit. His handshake meant something to anybody who knew him.
With a wife and nine kids to support, Ed was never too proud to turn down an odd job; he was too proud to do it in a way that did not meet his standards. He could not, by nature, allow imperfections to pass his inspection, and insisted on quality, even if the cost came out of his own pocket.
Community and God meant almost as much to Ed as family. When St. Petronille, where all his children attended school, decided to build a new facility, Ed voluntarily moved his home and a neighbor’s across the street to clear the land. Watching horses drag Ed’s home on cribbing and wooden rollers across Hillside Avenue serves as a metaphor for his sacrifice. Visiting a thriving St. Pet’s today, in that very same spot, serves as a testament to Ed’s positive impact on his world.
“He was a true craftsman, not necessarily a businessman. He did something because it was the right thing to do. ”
Tim Doyle, grandson
-
Second Generation
-
Bob joined his father’s company in 1960, after earning a Bachelor’s of Science in Business Administration from Marquette University. The college graduate had an affinity for business and numbers, but his father insisted that the best place to learn the business was on the job site.
So Bob “pounded nails” during the day and did books at night. At the time, E.P. Doyle took on only custom home building; Bob knew there were opportunities in the commercial sector. In fact, several architects approached E.P. Doyle to gauge interest in that type of work. Bob negotiated a series of commercial contracts, and soon had a number of very successful jobs to his credit. Doyle’s reputation, always, since the early days, equated with quality and reliability, was now known in many commercial sectors, such as banking, where it had completed jobs for Hinsdale Federal, MidAmerica Bank, FirstStar Bank and DuPage Bank and Trust, among others.
Bob was every bit the perfectionist in business that his father was in building. He created a business model in which Doyle could complete high-quality commercial jobs, within budget, and to the satisfaction of its growing client list. Pretty soon, the E.P. Doyle name could be seen at job sites all around Glen Ellyn and surrounding communities.
“I care a lot about my family’s name. We take pride in everything we do, and it means a lot when people recognize that.”
Bob Doyle, President (ret.)
-
Third Generation
-
When Tim Doyle was just a little boy, he followed his grandfather around dusty, noisy, sweaty job sites. Work, to young Tim, was play. While Tim naturally possessed that love of carpentry work, he also followed in his father’s footsteps: on to college and professional managerial skills. When Tim graduated from Eastern Illinois, the family business was an old-fashioned concern: a small, steady workflow.
Tim, out of practicality, really, took his first job with a very large Chicago builder, where he quickly took on leadership roles on major projects, such as the redevelopment of Navy Pier. Tim stayed with that firm through boom and bust, and his high value was evident in the fact that he survived while dozens of his colleagues fell victim to tough, competitive times.
Those seven years of intense apprenticeship, not to mention his four years of college, proved invaluable to Tim when he rejoined the family business in 1994. Tim’s rare combination of carpentry, managerial and business skills helped him usher in a new period of growth at E.P. Doyle. He updated the company’s technological capacity, its delivery methods, and generally enabled it to successfully tackle bigger jobs. The trick, Tim knew, was to modernize the company while retaining the values that made E.P. Doyle successful for its first 48 years: honesty, reliability, and integrity. Though the company’s revenues have increased significantly in the past ten years, Tim insists on being involved in the company’s every project.
“The fact is, almost everybody I’ve met have nothing but positive things to say about my grandfather and father. I hope I’m doing the right things, and I hope my children will do the right things, and future generations will do the right things, because this is our legacy. We have a reputation to protect.”
Tim Doyle, President