Jun 16, 2018 4 min read

Repairing, monitoring and sustaining hearts was John Frazier II’s vocation for nearly a half-century.

He was a cardiologist at Allegheny General Hospital on Pittsburgh’s North Side and in his native Washington County. Frazier and a man, coincidentally named Hart, opened a cardiology clinic in North Franklin Township that employed nine physicians and served an estimated 40,000 patients.

Frazier retired as a doctor in 2014, at about the time his partner at Frazier-Hart Cardiology hung up his stethoscope. But John II is still working, still embracing the second career that has captivated his heart.

Now 77, Frazier endures as president and chief operating officer at Frazier-Simplex Inc., an engineering firm that stands as East Washington’s only business. “We were grandfathered in,” he said, his company having begun operations on East Beau Street before the borough was zoned residential.

Grandfather is the operative word here, for it was John II’s grandpa, Chauncey Frazier, who started the company long ago but not very far away — in the Washington Trust Building in Washington. And while the business is among the older ones in the region, it remains fresh as it continues to go full bore in the engineering world.

Frazier-Simplex, now a fourth-generation family endeavor, is aging gracefully heading toward its centennial celebration. The firm — launched during World War I, 11 years before the Depression began — will turn 100 on July 29, one that remains true to its corporate roots.

“We may have been the first consulting firm to deal with the glass industry,” said John II, whose company employs 20 to 25 today. “We’re very well known in the glass industry worldwide.”

The company has adapted, but not entirely shifted gears, since Chauncey took a chance 10 decades ago, on the ninth and 10th floors of the Trust Building. Three gentlemen named John Earl Frazier, in succession, have carried on his traditions while initiating new ones. John I ultimately took over from his father, then following his death in 1985, the cardiologist became the heart of the business. His son, John III, the current chief operating officer, is the heir apparent.

There is a common thread among the four men spanning 100-plus years: all are Washington & Jefferson College graduates.

Since relocating to East Beau in 1938, the firm has had its home office in a stately, three-story brick Victorian that is understated on the outside, but impeccably ornate inside. There is no other business signage in the immediate vicinity, of course, and the company’s shingle does not scream out “Frazier-Simplex.” The name is engraved on a plain yet tasteful brick marquee on the front lawn.

This isn’t the extent of the engineering firm’s operations. It is affiliated with Frazier-Simplex Machine Co., which sits a few miles away on North Main Street in Chartiers Township. That 32,000-square-foot shop has a fabrication department and machine shop where much of the equipment designed by the company is manufactured. The shop also works on components for industries such as glass, steel, gain and coal.

Glass was a logical pursuit in the Pittsburgh region in 1918, as factories were prevalent throughout. Washington at one time — and for a long time — had a heart of glass.

In the old days, John II said, “you could draw a circle around Pittsburgh and have 90 percent of the industry inside it.”

John II, who also resides in East Washington, acknowledges changes that are inevitable over time. Among them, he said, is that “we’re more into the glass container industry now, and pharmaceutical glass tubing.”

His son added, “This business is primarily glass, but for the past 18 months, we’ve been more involved in mining equipment and repairs and fabrication.”

John III is following in this family tradition, but did no do so right out of W&J. He worked for awhile in Hong Kong and South Korea, before joining Frazier-Simplex. The son, married for a year and living in the Shadyside section of Pittsburgh, has since developed a high level of expertise as the representative of that fourth generation.

Asked what Frazier-Simplex has to do to keep on keeping on, he said: “We’re just trying to create the next big innovation in the industry.”

Passing the baton has been a successful strategy within this family, and John II is pleased to be doing so. “I’m proud that John has been involved and I hope he carries it on as long as it seems right.”

Another century perhaps?

“Family involvement for 100 years has been a nice experience for all of us. It’s provided jobs, and we have to be proud of that. It’s a shrinking business, but at the moment, it’s a nice business.”