Through a partnership with the Family Business Alliance at Wilkes University, we’re celebrating the many small, family-owned and operated businesses of Northeastern Pennsylvania. Keep an eye out for unique, local stories of generational perseverance, evolving ideas, creativity, strategic adaptation and success in the world of the family business.
The Dempsey Family Legacy: Nearly a Century of Laundry Service in NEPA
Nearly a century ago, sometime in the 1930s, a decade or more before washing machines and electric dryers became common household appliances in the postwar years, the Dempsey name was already tied to laundry service in Dunmore, Pennsylvania. The family’s first venture, Mother’s Laundry, located where CVS currently stands, was a modest home-laundry operation run by three brothers.
As home appliances became more accessible, the future of laundry wouldn’t be found in neighborhood washrooms — it would be found in serving businesses. Seeing that potential, the next generation acted, and in 1959, brothers Patrick and Richard Dempsey opened a small commercial laundry business known as Dempsey Uniform & Linen Supply.
Built by Family, Shaped by Generations
Today, siblings PJ Dempsey and Kristin Dempsey lead the second generation of the family business, carrying forward the work their father, Patrick Dempsey, helped begin in Dunmore.
“I sometimes talk about this as being like two-and-a-half generations,” said PJ Dempsey, President. PJ’s grandfather encouraged his sons to look toward the commercial side of the work — renting and supplying textiles to businesses instead of households.
“And so they are the two co-founders of the business that we’re in now, which is Dempsey Uniform and Linen Supply, which supplies businesses in manufacturing with uniforms, food service with tablecloths and napkins, and healthcare with sheets, gowns and lab coats, all on a rental basis,” said Vice President Kristin Dempsey.
Where It All Started
They started small in 1959 in Dunmore. “My dad worked inside. My uncle drove the truck and sold,” PJ said. “They were the little dynamic duo.”
From the beginning, the family business was about more than linen service. It was about people. And while not every employee shares the Dempsey last name, many have shared the work — and the story — for decades. In some cases, their connection to the company spans generations.
“There was a lady who lived behind the laundry that they built a flight of stairs for her to come to work,” PJ recalled. “She was the first employee. And she worked for us for 40-some years.” Helen’s daughter later came to work for the company, met her husband there, and the connection continued — eventually helping shape leaders who mentored PJ and others as the business grew.
In the early years, business depended on the season. “Back then, the business really focused on washing linen from hospitals and the Pocono resorts,” PJ explained. “So in the summer, the place would be packed.”
The winters, though, were quiet. To survive and grow, the family needed a steadier, year-round model. That turning point came in the late 1970s and early 1980s. “They kind of pivoted and got into the uniform business,” PJ said. “That really steadied things, and it became much more of a year-round focus.”
From there, Patrick and Richard continued to grow the business customer by customer, route by route. “The goal was always to pass it on to the next generation,” PJ said.
A New Chapter in the Family Business
By the early 1990s, that next generation of Dempseys was ready to step in.
A key moment came in 1994, when the company purchased a business in Sunbury, Pennsylvania. It would become Dempsey’s first major geographic expansion and a proving ground for the second generation, as Kristin relocated to Sunbury to lead the operation.
Sunbury became Dempsey’s second production plant. The next step was Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where PJ took the lead after another acquisition. Those moves changed the scale of the company.
“While we’ve grown organically every year,” emphasized Kristin, “the big leaps have been as we’ve acquired other businesses. And that’s how we’ve geographically expanded. Every geographic expansion we have has been through some acquisition that we had in that area.”
Today, Dempsey Uniform & Linen Supply serves customers across seven states with three production facilities and three distribution centers.
“The right answer to every question is, ‘What would you do if Pat Dempsey was standing behind you?’” — PJ Dempsey
In the late ’90s, PJ and Kristin’s dad bought land in a new industrial park near Scranton. He was thinking ahead — about space, about growth, about what the business would need next. And around that same time, PJ’s uncle stepped away from the company — a quiet turning point in a family business.
For nearly nine years, growth and acquisitions took priority, delaying construction. As Sunbury and the original Dunmore facility filled up, it became clear that Scranton needed a new, modern home. When the time came, PJ was the one driving the project. It was also a moment of trust from first generation to second.
“My dad, who’s this industry icon, finally has a chance to put his mark on it, start from scratch, and build the plant that he always knew that could set the standard for the industry,” PJ said. “But I think he just had the confidence to know that this is going to work and encouraged us. And there’s something about a big empty building that creates some sense of urgency to fill it. And that’s what we did.”
Dempsey moved into its current flagship facility in January 2006, a plant designed for automation, efficiency and growth.
Serving Fine Dining & Healthcare
In 2019, Dempsey acquired a plant in Clifton, New Jersey, just outside New York City — an operation that supports fine-dining linen service for restaurants in and around the city.
Closer to home, the Sunbury plant — where Kristin first helped lead the company’s expansion — shifted after Covid to exclusively handle healthcare laundering.
“Sunbury became a dedicated healthcare facility,” PJ said. “We got certified and accredited by some healthcare laundry associations and that turned out to be really, really, really great. We became the first supplier for UPMC in Central Pennsylvania for all their outpatient facilities.”
Family First: Six Siblings & Sunday Dinners
Behind the business is a large, close-knit family. Patrick and his wife, who both passed between 2024 and 2025, raised six children in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Kristin is the oldest; Katherine is the youngest. Today, the family’s mix of careers — including a doctor, a lawyer and an architect — quietly supports the business in different ways. PJ serves as President, Kristin as Vice President, and Kat leads technology and talent initiatives, with her husband also working in operations.
“But we’re all still together on Sunday nights,” Kristin said. “My parents always had us for dinner on Sunday nights, and even though we lost both of them this past year or year and a half, we’re still all together on Sunday nights.”
Building for the Third Generation
Between Kristin, PJ, Kat and their siblings, there are 14 grandchildren in the extended Dempsey clan. Some are already getting experience in the family business. “They’ve been working here for a few years and getting their hands dirty, doing the worst of the jobs,” PJ added.
“PJ’s kids cannot get here fast enough,” Kristin joked.
One of Kristin’s daughters is especially interested in technology. “One likes to code, so I had her here this summer with our IT guy for a big project,” Kristin said. “I told him, ‘Please show her that laundry can be interesting for computer science. We do cool computer science stuff here in the laundry business.’”
That focus reflects where the company is heading, with an emphasis on data, systems and scale.
“We’ve got two or three other prospects that really look good,” PJ said. “And we’ve decided to look beyond the Mid-Atlantic. We’ve broadened our horizons. And again, that’s next-gen stuff — it’s not necessary for us, but a bigger company with more kids coming in creates opportunity.”
For the Dempseys, it comes down to staying steady — making the choices that keep the business strong not just for today, but for the family coming up behind them. “We’re here. We’re going to make this work,” Kristin said.
And as PJ explained, when you’re thinking about who comes next, it changes how you look at everything. “If there’s another generation coming in, you see things very differently.”
