Next month we celebrate my Grandmother’s 90th birthday! My Grandpa celebrated his 90th in October of last year. They owned the pharmacy from 1975 to 1991. My Grandmother Jean was the eldest daughter of 3rd generation owner Harold Kester. She’s spent her entire life at the pharmacy in one way or another.

3rd generation Oswald’s Pharmacy owner Harold Kester with his daughters Jean (right) and Anita in 1937.

From delivering prescriptions with her Grandpa Oswald in the 1930s and the soda fountain in high school in the 1940s to shopping for greeting cards in the 2020s—her modern Oswald’s visits are sure easier than making a chocolate phosphate at the fountain!

When I came back to the family business in 2015, I sat down with my Grandparents to talk with them about their time growing up with and running the pharmacy. I was hoping to gain some insight into how we’ve managed to stay in businesses for so many years, and how I could continue that tradition.

Oswald’s Continuing to Serve Naperville After 145 Years

We discussed the value of knowing your customers and community the way chain pharmacies cannot. It’s something we still strive to do, even as the town has grown from a little over 5,000 residents (at the time of Jean’s birth) to over 149,000 today.  We talked about the multiple additions and changes made to the pharmacy over the years. Big changes like adding and removing the soda fountain, doubling the size of the store & creating a new ‘modern’ facade in the early 1960s, and joining the future as we computerized in the 1980s.

While so much has changed over the years—especially moving from Downtown Naperville to Naperville Plaza in 2004—we still take care of our customers the way my grandparents and great-grandparents did. I’m excited to come to work each day and carry on the legacy of our 6th generation family-owned pharmacy. Happy Birthday, Granny!