When Henning Overstrom came to Corning in 1903, he started a connection that continues through five generations.Donald Overstrom hasn’t worked for Corning since he retired in 1999, but still, as he sat in Innovation Hall at Sullivan Park chatting with his son and granddaughter last year, several choruses of “Hi, Donny!” rang out from employees passing by.With 38 years as an electrician, the man is considered an institution, part of a legacy of Overstroms who built their families and careers in Corning.

Don’s grandfather, Henning, was hired as the first gaffer when the Steuben Glass Works – acquired by Corning in 1918 - was founded in 1903. He brought his glassmaking expertise from Sweden and was instrumental in helping Frederick Carder run the new Steuben factory. Six of his sons worked for Corning. Read an article on the first three generations of the Overstrom family in The Gaffer, an early internal newsletter, from 1968.

In the years since Henning’s start, more than 25 family members have worked for Corning, including Don’s son, Greg, an engineering manager at Sullivan Park, and his granddaughter, Krista Powers, an occupational medical nurse in Global Health Services for Science & Technology.

“We all bleed Corning blue,” Greg says. The family is committed to Corning because the company is so committed to its employees, he says.

Greg served in the United States Navy Submarine Service during the Cold War years where his training and experience were classified. When he separated from the Navy, he was disappointed he couldn’t discuss his capabilities with civilian employers. The lack of a college degree made this even more difficult.

“I was fortunate to interview here with veterans who were familiar with my military training. My supervisor was a retired Navy chief petty officer, and my manager was a Navy top gun pilot,” Greg recalls. “They hired me and said, ‘You’ve got to finish your degree.’ They supported me through eight years of night school while I completed a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering.”

Greg has now been with the company for 33 years.

In college, Krista and her two siblings worked summer internships at Corning or the Corning Museum of Glass. In 2008, she spent a summer working with the staff nurses at Sullivan Park.

After college, she started her nursing career in Binghamton and began a life with her husband, Matthew. But, her path led her home.

“We came to the Corning Valley to settle here and start our family. To me, ‘Corning’ always meant ‘family,’ Krista says. “Growing up here in a close-knit community – that's what we wanted for our kids.”

Matthew is also extending the family connection to the company. He’s a life safety controls engineer in the Life Safety Systems Engineering group at Sullivan Park.

Corporate nursing is not exactly where she saw herself back in her college days; occupational medicine doesn’t have quite the cachet or fast paced call like hospital nursing. But Krista has found her niche at Corning. She’s been with the company for two years and can’t see herself anywhere else.

“It’s afforded me the best of both worlds. I love the 1:1 care for employees and the educational aspects coupled with our Sullivan Park corporate community,” Krista says. “I feel like this is the spot we were meant to be. The thing about Corning as a company, they value family and work-life balance. They’ve done well by my family, and I want to make sure my family does well for the company.”

Krista says she learned that hand-in-hand approach and symbiotic relationship from her father, and Greg learned it from his father, and those surely are values Henning instilled in his family.

“My dad made it clear when I joined the company that I was representing our family and I was to give my all to the company,” Greg says. “The Long Blue Line … its’ very personal to me. It gives me goosebumps talking about it.”

The family’s relationship with Corning is both professional and personal, as the Corning community and company are so closely intertwined. Don can tell you stories about the 1972 flood that devastated downtown Corning; he thinks he may have rewired half of Market Street and the Main Plant after the water receded. He was a union representative and worked with craft in the trades, he says. He was involved in the building of Sullivan Park in the early 1960s, and when it tripled in size in the 1990s. Today, he still can’t get over how big the place is at over two million square feet.

In the 1940s, Don was growing up in the Northside neighborhood where many diverse ethnic groups settled. He likes to tell stories of his childhood adventures, and how all cultures got along. He was also familiar with Corning’s founding family, the Houghtons. His mother, Julie, immigrated from Norway, and was a baker at the Knoll, the family’s private residence. She also worked for Corning, signing the bottoms of Steuben glass pieces. Don knew Jamie Houghton, former chairman and CEO, and was a leader in the Trades for Jamie’s Total Quality programs in the 1980s. Eventually the family connection continued as Krista and her sister babysat for Jamie’s grandchildren.

Those stories Don tells over and over still delight the family every time, Krista says. She’s grateful her children Ava and Will – the sixth generation of her father’s family in the U.S. – can hear them from the patriarch himself. Grandpa Greg tells the stories, too.

“My kids know that Mom, Dad and Grampy all work up on The Hill,” Krista says. “It’s an accomplishment for me. The legacy is very dear to me.”

Krista and Matthew expect Corning will continue to provide for the Overstrom family for years to come, and that the next generation will likely have opportunities – Take Your Child to Work activities, internships, job prospects, and community connections – courtesy of the company.

Don’s grandfather, Henning, was hired as the first gaffer when the Steuben Glass Works – acquired by Corning in 1918 - was founded in 1903. He brought his glassmaking expertise from Sweden and was instrumental in helping Frederick Carder run the new Steuben factory. Six of his sons worked for Corning. Read an article on the first three generations of the Overstrom family in The Gaffer, an early internal newsletter, from 1968.

In the years since Henning’s start, more than 25 family members have worked for Corning, including Don’s son, Greg, an engineering manager at Sullivan Park, and his granddaughter, Krista Powers, an occupational medical nurse in Global Health Services for Science & Technology.

“We all bleed Corning blue,” Greg says. The family is committed to Corning because the company is so committed to its employees, he says.

Greg served in the United States Navy Submarine Service during the Cold War years where his training and experience were classified. When he separated from the Navy, he was disappointed he couldn’t discuss his capabilities with civilian employers. The lack of a college degree made this even more difficult.

“I was fortunate to interview here with veterans who were familiar with my military training. My supervisor was a retired Navy chief petty officer, and my manager was a Navy top gun pilot,” Greg recalls. “They hired me and said, ‘You’ve got to finish your degree.’ They supported me through eight years of night school while I completed a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering.”

Greg has now been with the company for 33 years.

In college, Krista and her two siblings worked summer internships at Corning or the Corning Museum of Glass. In 2008, she spent a summer working with the staff nurses at Sullivan Park.

After college, she started her nursing career in Binghamton and began a life with her husband, Matthew. But, her path led her home.

“We came to the Corning Valley to settle here and start our family. To me, ‘Corning’ always meant ‘family,’ Krista says. “Growing up here in a close-knit community – that's what we wanted for our kids.”

Matthew is also extending the family connection to the company. He’s a life safety controls engineer in the Life Safety Systems Engineering group at Sullivan Park.

Corporate nursing is not exactly where she saw herself back in her college days; occupational medicine doesn’t have quite the cachet or fast paced call like hospital nursing. But Krista has found her niche at Corning. She’s been with the company for two years and can’t see herself anywhere else.

“It’s afforded me the best of both worlds. I love the 1:1 care for employees and the educational aspects coupled with our Sullivan Park corporate community,” Krista says. “I feel like this is the spot we were meant to be. The thing about Corning as a company, they value family and work-life balance. They’ve done well by my family, and I want to make sure my family does well for the company.”

Krista says she learned that hand-in-hand approach and symbiotic relationship from her father, and Greg learned it from his father, and those surely are values Henning instilled in his family.

“My dad made it clear when I joined the company that I was representing our family and I was to give my all to the company,” Greg says. “The Long Blue Line … its’ very personal to me. It gives me goosebumps talking about it.”

The family’s relationship with Corning is both professional and personal, as the Corning community and company are so closely intertwined. Don can tell you stories about the 1972 flood that devastated downtown Corning; he thinks he may have rewired half of Market Street and the Main Plant after the water receded. He was a union representative and worked with craft in the trades, he says. He was involved in the building of Sullivan Park in the early 1960s, and when it tripled in size in the 1990s. Today, he still can’t get over how big the place is at over two million square feet.

In the 1940s, Don was growing up in the Northside neighborhood where many diverse ethnic groups settled. He likes to tell stories of his childhood adventures, and how all cultures got along. He was also familiar with Corning’s founding family, the Houghtons. His mother, Julie, immigrated from Norway, and was a baker at the Knoll, the family’s private residence. She also worked for Corning, signing the bottoms of Steuben glass pieces. Don knew Jamie Houghton, former chairman and CEO, and was a leader in the Trades for Jamie’s Total Quality programs in the 1980s. Eventually the family connection continued as Krista and her sister babysat for Jamie’s grandchildren.

Those stories Don tells over and over still delight the family every time, Krista says. She’s grateful her children Ava and Will – the sixth generation of her father’s family in the U.S. – can hear them from the patriarch himself. Grandpa Greg tells the stories, too.

“My kids know that Mom, Dad and Grampy all work up on The Hill,” Krista says. “It’s an accomplishment for me. The legacy is very dear to me.”

Krista and Matthew expect Corning will continue to provide for the Overstrom family for years to come, and that the next generation will likely have opportunities – Take Your Child to Work activities, internships, job prospects, and community connections – courtesy of the company.