If Jim Yealy Can’t Fix Your Commercial Dish Washing Machine, No One Can: A Tribute to a 40-year Loyal Employee

By Terence O’Reilly, Jr. and Sean O’Reilly, Sr.

By all accounts, if you need a commercial dish washing machine fixed, Jim Yealy is your guy. If he can’t fix it, it may be unfixable.

But while we love Jim’s skill and talent as a technician, we also value his reputation among his customers as responsible and reliable, a person who cares about them and their businesses.

Yealy, a senior service technician, has been at TERMAC for 40 years, and still counting. Not many employees anywhere celebrate a 40th anniversary.

Perhaps Yealy and TERMAC were meant to be together. Forty years ago, founder Terence O’Reilly, Sr. hired Yealy from a restaurant. O’Reilly, Sr. asked if the James Frank Yealy across the table happened to be the son of Frank Yealy, which he was. That happened to be O’Reilly, Sr.’s sergeant in the Army. “If you are half the man your father is, you are good,” he told him. He was hired.

Yealy “knows anything and everything about machines,” said O’Reilly, Sr. He noted how Yealy saves parts, because “you never know when there is a need for an ancient part not made anymore. He has done everything and knows everything,” said O’Reilly, Sr.

“He is phenomenal mechanic,” agreed co-owner Sean O’Reilly, Sr. “He keeps our restaurants in great shape. Very conscientious. We started together when I was little, and he helped me immensely.”

Co-owner Terence O’Reilly, Jr. recalls that he was with Yealy when he got a call that his daughter was about to be born. On that date, they call each other every year to ask what they were doing 30 years ago, or whatever the time frame is. “When you’ve been together for this many years you can’t help but know each other’s families.” That is part of what makes Termac a family-friendly place of employment.

“The stories go on and on with Jimmy,” said O’Reilly, Jr. “He is very loyal, obviously and probably the most talented and knowledgeable tech out there. He has a phenomenal memory on all the accounts we have. The customers all know him. He is someone you can call to help you out of a situation with all his knowledge. It comes in handy.”

Among the customers who appreciate Yealy is Peter Hadgimallis, owner of the popular Lancer’s Diner on Easton Rd. in Horsham. “Jim has been our service technician for as long as I can remember. Jim is a ‘get up and get it done’ guy. His caring for you and your family comes through.”

A properly operating dish machine is important because an efficient back of the house propels the front. “Yealy seems to know everything. He can dissect what is wrong with a machine,” said Hadgimallis. “He’s been more like a partner than a tech.”

His supervisor at TERMAC, Steve Adriano, has only known Yealy for 12 years but quickly appreciated that “he is one of the most hard-working people I have ever met.” He is your go-to for dishwashing machines.”
“Jimmy always thinks about what is best for the customer,” summed up O’Reilly, Jr. “If you send Jim in to service a customer you know it will be done properly with no issues later. It will be done right.”

We at TERMAC congratulate Yealy on 40 years of great work, and wish him many more!

Termac Corporation is a family-owned business serving the hospitality industry for more than 58 years with its cleaning and sanitation products. To meet the needs of this evolving market, it established a system of service and developed The Filter Man, GTO Grease Trap Services, Universal Fire Protection and AllPro Stainless Steel and Metal Fabrication.


Click any logo to check out our other services.