Milton S. Hershey

Milton Hershey was born on September 13, 1857, to Henry and Veronica "Fanny" (née Snavely) Hershey. Of Swiss and German descent, his family were members of Pennsylvania's Mennonite community, and he grew up speaking Pennsylvania Dutch.

In April 1862, Hershey's sister Sarena Hershey was born in Derry Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, and died in 1867 at age 4.

Hershey had a very limited education, with no schooling beyond the fourth grade. In 1871, Milton Hershey left school and was apprenticed to a local printer, Sam Ernst, who published a German-English newspaper. He soon lost this job and took up the candy trade after recommendation by his family. His mother arranged for the 14-year-old Hershey to be apprenticed to a confectioner named Joseph Royer in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He studied under Royer for four years. In 1876, he moved to Philadelphia to start his first confectionery business.

Milton then traveled to Denver and, finding work at a local confectioners, learned how to make caramels using fresh milk. He then went to New Orleans and Chicago looking for opportunities, before settling in New York City in 1883 and training at Huyler's. He started his second business that, while initially successful, lasted only three years, closing in 1886.

On May 25, 1898, Hershey married Catherine Elizabeth "Kitty" Sweeney (b. 1871), an Irish-American Catholic from Jamestown, New York. The couple did not have any children.

On March 25, 1915, Catherine died of an unknown disease. In 1919, Hershey moved Catherine's body from Philadelphia to Hershey Cemetery. In March 1920, Hershey's mother, Fanny Hershey, died and she was buried in Hershey Cemetery. In late 1930, his father's body was moved there.

Death

Hershey died of pneumonia in Hershey Hospital on October 13, 1945, at the age of 88. Hershey is buried at Hershey Cemetery, a cemetery which he built, on Laudermilch Road in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Hershey's grave is located at Section Spec-Her, Lot 1, Grave 1, next to his wife (Grave 2).

Hershey and his wife established the Hershey Industrial School with a deed of trust in 1909.

In 1918, Hershey transferred the majority of his assets, including control of the company, to the Milton Hershey School Trust fund, to benefit the Hershey Industrial School. The trust fund has a majority of voting shares in the Hershey Company, allowing it to keep control of the company. In 1951, the school was renamed the Milton Hershey School. The Milton Hershey School Trust also has 100% control of Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Company, which owns the Hotel Hershey and Hersheypark, among other properties.

Hershey built Hershey Cemetery on Laudermilch Road in Hershey, Pennsylvania. On July 31, 1923, Hershey transferred the land for the cemetery for $1.00.

In 1935, Hershey established the M.S. Hershey Foundation, a private charitable foundation that provides educational and cultural opportunities for Hershey residents. The foundation supplies funding for three entities: the Hershey Museum and Hershey Gardens, the Hershey Theatre and the Hershey Community Archives.

The founding of the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center occurred in 1963 when the board of the trust went to the Dauphin County Orphans Court with the cy-près doctrine (cy près is a French phrase meaning "As close as possible"). It was a gift from the Milton Hershey School Trust to the people of Pennsylvania, with an initial endowment of $50 million and only one restriction—the hospital had to be built in Hershey. The hospital is a teaching hospital, with an annual budget exceeding the initial construction cost.