Mr. Benjamin H. Denney, Jr., a 1960 graduate of Cheltenham High School and longtime owner of Denney Electric Supply, passed away at home on Tuesday, July 1. He was 83 years old.
Under his leadership, the family business became an eleven-location distributor in eastern Pennsylvania. The original location is at 61 E Butler Avenue in Ambler.
From his obituary in electricaltrends.com:
As many who knew Ben are aware, he was an extremely entrepreneurial person. At the age of 12, he purchased a small greenhouse which he set up in his back yard and used to grow flowers in and sell them in front of his childhood home. When Ben was 27 years old his father developed cancer and passed away suddenly. Ben and his mother were left with a small 3,000 square foot, mom and pop electrical supply house on 5th Street in Philadelphia which Ben had worked in for about 8 years. After his father’s passing, Ben grew and expanded this business by opening first the location in Ambler, then several other locations throughout the state and one on the island of Sint Maarten. Each branch has its own unique story, but in most cases Ben’s model was to move to a new area and open the branch and work in it himself until it got off the ground. Then he would look to find a capable staff and branch manager to continue to build the branch as he focused on his next project. Ben tremendously valued these relationships and would continue to ask after many of these employees by name, on a regular basis, even up until last year. Ben attributed the success of Denney Electric to the people who worked in it and he was deeply grateful for all the time and effort that these people put in, which allowed Denney Electric to grow into what it is today.
Services were held on Tuesday, July 8.