Women in Springs Labor and Love
By Sara Scullin
Linda Froehlich, CEO of Ace Wire Spring & Form Co., on Finding Family, Passion and Purpose in Springs
Linda Froehlich
Linda’s grandfather, Joseph Vodvarka Sr
60 Fall 2023 I Springs
Linda’s father, Joseph A. Vodvarka
Springs have always been a part of Linda Froehlich’s world. Froehlich’s father, Joseph Vodvarka, started the business in 1939. In 1976 she and her husband, Richard, purchased Ace from her father. In 1986 they built their third building and moved to McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, where Ace operates today out of a 55,000-square-foot facility. When Richard passed in March 2022, Froehlich and her son Ritch continued moving the business forward. Recently, her granddaughter, Tresslyn and grandson, RJ, joined the company after graduating from college. “A lot of buyers like dealing with family-owned companies,” Froehlich says. “They like knowing us and working with us because of our excellent reputation in the industry. We’ve also been blessed with the greatest employees, many of whom have been with us for 30, 40 or 50 years.” Froehlich has always seen women at work. Her mother and grandmother supplied parts to Rockwell International while her father served in the Air Force as an airplane mechanic during World War II. Early on, two of her aunts worked in the office with her dad. They were a great inspiration to her. Froehlich began helping with filing and other tasks at age 14, and continued working with the company as a young wife and mom. Even back then, Froehlich says, to be a woman in the industry required extra coordination and tenacity. “For a short time, my mom watched our son while we worked long hours,” Froehlich says. “Then, when our daughter was born six years later, we hired a full-time nanny who was great with the children. “I don’t know how some women do it today,” she says. “They and their partners drop the dog