Henry John Heinz (1844 – 1919)

Henry Heinz helped his mother tend a small garden while he was the tender age of six years old. When he reached the age of twelve, Henry was managing more than three acres of land using a horse and cart to make deliveries to grocery stores in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He eventually became the founder of a company which he named “57 Varieties”. The H.J. Heinz Company was incorporated in 1905 and now produces more than 1,300 products sold throughout the world.


He was a pioneer in the area of safe sanitary food preparation. Furthermore, he made significant advancements toward employee relations with management. H. J. Heinz provided free medical benefits and gymnasium facilities including a swimming pool for his employees. It was not uncommon for women to hold supervisory and other significant positions of responsibility and authority.


Henry John Heinz was deeply involved in sponsoring Sunday school in the Pittsburgh area and throughout the world.


The following quote is from his will and testament:

“I desire to set forth at the very beginning of this will, as the most important item in it, a confession of my faith in Jesus Christ as my Savior. I also desire to bear witness to the fact that throughout my life, in which there were unusual joys and sorrows, I have been wonderfully sustained by my faith in God through Jesus Christ. This legacy was left me by my consecrated mother a woman of strong faith, and to it I attribute any success I have attained.”