Roderick H. Tait, president of the Tait & Nordmeyer Engineering Company of St. Louis, was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, March 31, 1866, and is a son of George and Cynthia A. (Tupper) Tait. The father, now deceased, was a native of Scotland and a cabinet-maker by trade. During the last twenty years of his life he was a resident of Halifax. His wife, a native of Canada, was born in Nova Scotia, and is still living. Their family numbered nine children, five sons and four daughters, of whom Roderick H. was the third In order of birth.
In the public schools of Halifax Roderick H. Tait began his education, which he later continued in Dartmouth. He started out to earn his own living when eighteen years of age and entered upon an apprenticeship to the machinist’s trade. He afterward took up mechanical engineering, which profession he has continuously and successfully followed. He came to St. Louis in 1896 and immediately entered upon mechanical engineering work and later he established his present business, which in 1907 was incorporated under the name of the Tait & Nordmeyer Engineering Company. In this line the firm has won a well earned reputation as one of the leading engineering companies of Missouri. They specialize in refrigeration and mechanical engineering and Mr. Tait has developed splendid ability along these lines. He is a member of the American Society of Refrigerating Engineers and at one time was its president. He is also a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
On the 16th of October, 1902, in Denver, Colorado, Mr. Tait was married to Miss Cora B. Smith, a native of New York city and a daughter of John and Lois Smith. They have two children: Roderick H., Jr., who was born in New York; and Roland S., a native of Baltimore, Maryland. Both sons served 1n the World war in the balloon service, and Roland was taken prisoner by the Germans, his balloon being blown away in a storm and driven over into the enemy’s lines. He was captured and held until the armistice was signed.
In his political views Mr. Tait has always been a stalwart republican. He belongs to Westgate Lodge, No. 4i6, A. F. & A. M., has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite Masonry and is a member of the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member of the Missouri Athletic Association and is widely and favorably known both socially and in a business way. Whatever success he has achieved and enjoyed is attributed entirely to his own labors and with a nature that could not be content with mediocrity he has steadily advanced in his chosen profession until his position is a most creditable one among the mechanical engineers of this section of the country.