Her grandfather, F.J. McKee, started delivering ice and coal throughout Chicago in 1901 with one wagon and one pony. He soon began moving vaudeville sets for the likes of Charlie Chaplin from the trains they arrived on to the theaters they were performing in. He built his business on his reputation for careful handling – a reputation National Van Lines proudly holds to this day.

From the ashes

By 1916, McKee grew the business first from a horse, to a team of horses, then from a truck to an entire fleet. Today, National Van Lines is one of the largest moving companies in the United States – and one of the most successful.

But it wasn’t always a smooth ride. The family, and the company, overcame its share of adversity. In 1917, a warehouse fire destroyed all but one truck of McKee’s fleet. That same year, he was diagnosed with Tuberculosis. The business was shuttered while he moved his family west, on his doctor’s advice, to recover.

Nevertheless, the moving business remained in his blood. Twelve years later, at the age of 50, he returned to Chicago with one truck and $500 to start what would become National Van Lines. It was 1929 – just in time for the company to weather the Great Depression.