Entrepreneur. George Mesta, an Italian-American, was the founder of Pittsburgh's Mesta Machine Company in 1898 and a major contributor to the Republican Party. His plant was a mile-long facility in West Homestead and was for a generation, the world's largest machine shop under one roof, employing 3,000 workers. Following being educated in public schools, he graduated with a degree in engineering in 1888 from Pennsylvania Western University. After finding employment with other plants and quickly advancing to management level, he opened his own business in 1898. On February 12, 1917 in New York City, he married Pearl Skirvin, the daughter of a wealthy Oklahoma oil tycoon and founder of the Skirvin Hotel. He was called to government service in Washington D.C. as a defense-industry consultant during World War I. After the war, he and his wife traveled about Europe. In 1925 he died suddenly of heart failure at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel while on a trip to New York City, leaving his widow a fortune of 15 million dollars. The couple had no children. Although his widow sold her controlling share of the company in the 1930s, the company continued to grow for a time, but filed for bankruptcy in February of 1983.
Entrepreneur. George Mesta, an Italian-American, was the founder of Pittsburgh's Mesta Machine Company in 1898 and a major contributor to the Republican Party. His plant was a mile-long facility in West Homestead and was for a generation, the world's largest machine shop under one roof, employing 3,000 workers. Following being educated in public schools, he graduated with a degree in engineering in 1888 from Pennsylvania Western University. After finding employment with other plants and quickly advancing to management level, he opened his own business in 1898. On February 12, 1917 in New York City, he married Pearl Skirvin, the daughter of a wealthy Oklahoma oil tycoon and founder of the Skirvin Hotel. He was called to government service in Washington D.C. as a defense-industry consultant during World War I. After the war, he and his wife traveled about Europe. In 1925 he died suddenly of heart failure at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel while on a trip to New York City, leaving his widow a fortune of 15 million dollars. The couple had no children. Although his widow sold her controlling share of the company in the 1930s, the company continued to grow for a time, but filed for bankruptcy in February of 1983.
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