Drake Timeline

Drake Refrigeration’s humble beginnings go back to 1972. At this time, Ronald S. Drake was living in Port St. Lucie, on Florida’s Treasure Coast. During the steamy summer months, outdoor swimming pools in this part of the country can feel more like a hot bath than a cool oasis. Raised in Michigan, Ronald longed for the refreshing waters of the lakes near his hometown. While tinkering in his garage one day, he came up with the idea of using a chiller to cool down Floridian pools to a more inviting temperature. This spark evolved into Drake Refrigeration, going strong at 50 years and counting.

Ron was born in Coldwater, Michigan, in 1924. He served in the United States Air Force before settling in southern Florida. He was a very hands-on person that was involved in all parts of the operations, from product application to engineering design, refrigeration theory to sales and service. Ron was a strong believer at always putting the customer first, and accomplished this by delivering equipment that met their needs and was not overly complicated to operate. He believed in providing a robust, well-engineered and -designed product that the end user could rely on, regardless of climate or location.

From 1972 to 1995, Ron was the face and voice of Drake Refrigeration. His forward-thinking and innovative approach built this company into the industry leader in the chiller and refrigeration industry. While the outdoor swimming pools of south Florida were a fine place to start, Ron saw the need for chillers in other industries as well, transforming Drake from a local cooling company into an international refrigeration powerhouse. Building on what Ron Drake founded back in 1972, we continue to operate under the time-tested and -proven methods and vision that Ron put in place a half century ago.

In 1995 Ron sold the company, passing the torch on to the next generation of chiller professionals. Two years later, the company was relocated to its current location in Bensalem, Pennsylvania. Several of the chillers that Ron was involved with manufacturing are still in service today, including two located locally at the Chaddsford Winery.