The West Family Legacy in Harvard, MA: 4 Generations of Plumbing & Heating

It started with Edward. Bob West's great-uncle founded West Oil Company in 1949, planting the first seed of what would grow into a multigenerational family legacy of service in the Harvard area.

Inspired by his uncle Edward, Bob's grandfather moved to Harvard and started his own West Oil — bringing the family business home to the town where it would become a fixture of the community for decades to come.

Bob's father Dan and his uncle Rick both came up working for their father's oil company. It was a family operation in the truest sense — learning the trade side by side, earning trust the old-fashioned way.

When their grandfather eventually sold West Oil to Concord Oil, Rick West set out on his own path. He earned his plumbing license, put in the years of training, and in 1988 opened West Plumbing & Heating in Harvard — a new chapter, a familiar name.

Bob's father Dan returned from a stint working in Texas and founded West Heating Oil in Harvard. Two brothers, two West businesses, one community. The family's commitment to Harvard had never been stronger.

Bob West spent nearly a decade working alongside his uncle Rick at West Plumbing & Heating. He learned not just the craft, but what it means to be the person a community calls when something goes wrong. Real accountability. Real relationships.

After nearly a decade under his uncle's wing, Bob launched R.H. West Plumbing & Heating. Built on everything the family had taught him — hard work, honesty, and genuine care for the people you serve.

Bob's father Dan sold West Heating Oil to Brideau Energy. The first of the West family's Harvard businesses passed to outside ownership.

Rick West closed on the sale of West Plumbing & Heating to Wilson Brothers.

As of May 2026, R.H. West Plumbing & Heating now stands as the sole continuation of the West family legacy — the only West still doing the work, still here, still accountable to the community the family has served for over 75 years. We could not be more proud of that and we look forward to continuing the legacy through the next generation.