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Richard VanSickle (left) with his wife Florence May Keith and an unknown man.
Richard John VanSickle was born in 1869, in Petrolia, Ontario where he was involved in drilling two or three oil wells on his father's farm. In 1889, Richard (Dick) left for the oil fields of Galicia where he would cross paths with many of the Hard Oilers of Lambton County. He began work with Perkins and McIntosh in East Galicia but after a year of unsuccessful exploration, VanSickle joined the ranks of William McGarvey where worked under Jacob Perkins near Krosno. It was during this time that VanSickle became engaged to Florence Keith, daughter of Admiral Keith, and they were married in November of 1891.
Richard VanSickle proved to be a man who loved a challenge and was praised on multiple occasions for his hard work and dedication. In 1898, he became the manager of the oil fields of Steaua Romana in Romania where he found wells with collapsed casing and deserted wells filled with discarded junk. VanSickle persevered and got all of the wells running. Again, when he was appointed the manager of the Campina and Gura Ocnitei oil fields in Romania, he improved and cleaned the oil wells so that they saw a large increase in their production.
Richard VanSickle continued to be involved in the oil business, although at age 38 he moved to Hamilton, Ontario with the intention of retiring from the oil business. After spending two years in Canada, he grew restless and moved to England. From this time on, Richard's life involved various oil ventures and activities in the regions of Galicia and Romania, eventually forming an oil company in Romania which continued to be run by the VanSickle family until 2003.
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