About Plumbing Specialty Parts

Affectionately known as Sully by his colleagues, Dick Sullivan began his 47-year career as a construction plumber in 1948 with the Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 290 after serving in the US Marines for 6 years during World War II. During the next four decades, he worked on several nuclear power plants, commercial hatcheries, and on the Alaska pipeline. Extremely creative and inventive, Sully developed and patented the Oregon Trap Primer Valve and developed several other plumbing devices that are practical and continue to be useful in the industry today.

As owner and sole proprietor of Plumbing Specialty Parts for over 50 years, Sully dedicated himself to creating and manufacturing wholesale plumbing parts with quality design and affordable cost. Unfortunately, at the time of Sully’s death in 1995, there were still many product concepts on his drawing board. Sully’s family continued product manufacturing and sales as the new face of PSP until late 2017.

Plumbing Specialty Parts is now in its sixth decade with a new generation of owners and friends of Sully’s family. The current owners, the Helms family, are expanding the product line, improving manufacturing processes and qualities, and furthering web and ordering services. The legacy started by Sully continues as a family-owned operation in Gresham, Oregon!