Born in 1925 in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, Harry H. Esbenshade, Jr. served in the United States Navy, then graduated fromYale University in 1946. He moved to Parkersburg, West Virginia in 1949 to operate Tri-State Roofing Company now Tri-State Roofing & Sheet Metal Company.

He has been a trustee of Marietta College and a member of the West Virginia State Library Commission. He was the founding President of the Sheet Metal and Roofing Contractors Association of West Virginia and has served as a Director of both National Roofing Contractors Association and the National Sheet Metal Contractors Association. He has also been an important figure in the growth of the Parkersburg Area Community Foundation, where he was elected to serve a five-year term on the Board of Governors of the Foundation in 1993. Formerly, Mr. Esbenshade was the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Mountain Company, which operates construction-related subsidiaries throughout the Midwest and Southeast, and also was Chairman/CEO/Secretary of Ohio Valley Land Company, Inc.

Mr. Esbenshade created an advised fund in 1982 at the Parkersburg Area Community Foundation. The purpose of the fund is to make grants each year to support diversified charitable projects in the area, with an emphasis on capital projects.