Hometown Headliners
Material for these vignettes was gathered from various sources including Wikipedia and Oberg Industries,.
1923 — Aug. 30, 2019Born in Butler, and a Butler Senior High School graduate, Aaron was an author with nearly two dozen published books.He attended UCLA, UC Berkeley and San Francisco University.His first book, “The Cowbank,” was published in 1955 and his final book, “About Them: A Novel,” was published in 2011.Aaron also worked as a steel worker, X-ray technician, college professor and garlic farmer.
1806 — May 12, 1890Frederick Buhl was born in Butler as the second of 11 children.He originally moved to Pittsburgh at 16 years old to learn to be a jeweler, but moved to Detroit in 1833 to start a business with his brother, Christian.They founded F&C Buhl Co. selling hats and furs. The company renamed to F. Buhl Company after 20 years when Christian retired from the business.
1916 - Oct. 10, 1992Donald E. Oberg was the founder of Oberg Industries, based in Freeport.Oberg attended Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh.He founded the Oberg Manufacturing Co. in Tarentum, Pa., in 1948, producing precision carbide dies.In the 1950s, Oberg Manufacturing moved its headquarters to Freeport. Oberg Manufacturing renamed to Oberg Industries in the 1980s. In 1985, Machinist magazine named Oberg “Man of the Year” for his “pioneer work in making carbide die material.” Oberg led the company until his retirment in 1989.In the 1990s, Oberg Industries opened a second facility in Sarver.
