Four generations of roofers and counting

By Emma Peterson. 

O’Donnell Roofing Co. has delivered high-quality craftsmanship and service to families for over a century.  

It’s not uncommon to find family businesses in the roofing industry, but even in their Havertown community, a 102-year-old family legacy is impressive. To learn more about the legacy that O’Donnell Roofing Co. has built over the years, Megan Ellsworth sat down with Kevin O’Donnell, the fourth generation of O’Donnell’s to manage the company, for an episode of the Stories from the Roof podcast, sponsored by SRS Distribution. 

The story of O’Donnell Roofing goes back to 1924 in West Philadelphia. Kevin explained, “My great grandfather had a sheet metal shop and got into roofing. He would also service coal burners in the wintertime. We still have all his ledgers, just really neat.” Kevin’s great grandfather ran the business from the founding through WWII and a short time after it was then handed off to Kevin's grandfather. This was around the time asphalt shingles and aluminum siding were popular, and the business did a lot of installation of these materials.  

The legacy continued when the business was handed over to Kevin’s father in 1980. With that handoff, Kevin’s father took the business back to its roots, prioritizing traditional roofing, sheet metal work, slate and tile. Then, in 2017, Kevin formerly took over the business, though his father is still heavily involved to this day. Looking back at that time, Kevin recalled that they “only had one crew and were bringing a sub crew to work with them to do the heavy lifting and so they could focus on all the details. And we did a ton of service work, a lot of slate and tile service.” 

And Kevin isn’t doing it alone; his sister, who has a background in real estate, is currently their controller. Together, this incredible sibling pair has built up O’Donnell Roofing and expanded its services to include roofing, windows, skylights, solar, siding, gutters and custom work — all while maintaining the high-quality reputation that has kept clients coming back to them over the years. In fact, O’Donnell is still working with some of the same families Kevin’s great grandfather had as clients. He added: 

I can look at that my great grandfather’s ledger from 1924 and I see all the last names and a lot of the last names we still work with or work with at least for my father worked with...Like there’s a family that was in West Philadelphia at the same time as my grandfather and I’ve known them for my whole career and am still working with the son of that man. 

Looking to the future, Kevin is hopeful that the business will stay in the family, sharing, “I have a son, who will be 11, and a daughter who will be 7 this year. And I feel like at this point either of them could carry on the legacy... They're both stubborn and very smart, which is what you need in this business.”  

Want to hear more of the O’Donnell family’s story? Listen to the whole podcast with Kevin.