Richard P. Essey

February 5, 1923 - April 10, 2020

San Francisco entrepreneur and philanthropist Richard P. (“Dick”) Essey died peacefully on Friday, April 10 in his sleep at his home in San Francisco of natural causes. He was 97.

Essey was an original pioneer and visionary of the temporary staffing industry, starting his own firm, TemPositions, in 1962, based on needs for flexible staff he witnessed while working in corporate human resources. He grew TemPositions into a large regional staffing firm providing a full range of staffing support, through multiple offices and was extremely proud the firm found employment for over 250,000 people. In 1990, he passed on leadership to his son Jim.

He was one of the early founders of the American Staffing Association and helped establish the New York chapter. He was elected president of both organizations. For his important contributions, the American Staffing Association named him the first inductee in the Staffing Industry Hall of Fame. Essey also worked with the California Staffing Professionals trade association and endowed the annual Essey Award for the individual who contributed most to the association in that year. Essey was selected as

Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst and Young and Inc. Magazine in the field of Human resources. His company was awarded the Excellence in Business award by the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce.

Essey focused much of his life around helping others. A strong believer in college education, he awarded an annual scholarship to Goucher College, his wife Sheila’s alma mater, and avidly followed the success of his scholarship recipients. He established a similar program at the NYU Stern School of Business and endowed the TemPositions Career Resource Center at NYU, providing career services for graduating students for over a decade.

Essey and his wife Sheila were also interested in the arts and sat on the board of Trustees of the Museum of Craft and Folk Art and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco where he endowed the Sheila L. and Richard P. Essey Gallery at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor.

When his wife was diagnosed with ALS in 1995, he found there was no organization to help caregivers find resources in the Bay area, nor a vehicle to raise money for research. He formed the Bay Area chapter of the ALS association (now renamed the Golden West Chapter) and housed the staff in his company’s offices in San Francisco. Today, the chapter is one of the largest in the ALSA network.

While caring for his wife, he recognized the immense challenges faced by caregivers. Working with the Caregivers Alliance in San Francisco, he created an annual “retreat” for family caregivers.

Essey also sat on the board of the American Brain Foundation, where he helped advance fundraising for brain disease research. He was very proud of creating the Sheila Essey Award for ALS research, annually awarding a $50,000 prize to the top ALS research scientist. There have been 27 international recipients to date.

Essey also founded the Essey Community Service

Internship Program, placing high school students in non-profit organizations during the summer. He also established the Essey Meal Delivery Program for disabled individuals unable to prepare and shop for food.

For his contributions to the community, he received citations from the Mayor of San Francisco and the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

He was a devoted father, grandfather, and husband. Essey is survived by his son James Essey, daughter Tina Mikkelsen, his daughter-inlaw Nina Zakin, son-in-law Trygve Mikkelsen and three grandchildren: Alexandra Essey, Anders Mikkelsen and Britt Mikkelsen. Funeral services will be private. Contributions may be made to the Golden West Chapter of the ALS Association and the American Brain Foundation in his memory.