Our History
Thomas J. Hoyne
Since birth, Thomas J. Hoyne probably knew he would end up in the construction field. At thirteen months, he received his first electrical shock trying to plug in the family Christmas tree (actually about 5 shocks). His father and uncle (an electrician at Jefferson Electric) repaired and rehabbed many properties, in which Tom watched patiently. At five, he was repairing electrical appliances and building houses using, shoeboxes. By seven, Tom Hoyne was also lighting the houses with the parts from old flashlights. Then at age nine, he suggested a solution to his father on a electrical problem he was having. After that, his father never did electrical work again.
By age twelve, Tom Hoyne was doing building maintenance for family and friends. October 1971, at fifteen, he was working at White Hen Pantry and was trained by Jewel Foods Maintenance Staff in electrical and refrigeration (you couldn’t pay for a better education in the trades). These proved invaluable in August of 1972 for the U.S.A. swimming trials at Portage Park. Tom came up with a lighting solution for ABC Sports. In 1973, Tom worked for Brunswick Corporation repairing bowling, vending, and the new video machines (pong and space invaders). Tom Hoyne was later asked to be part of a new program called “Prevented Building Maintenance” and taught the same to many at Brunswick, until 1983 where he was known as the “WireWiz.”
3 days later, Tom started at Chicago’s largest residential electrical contractor (A-Z) as an electrician. 1 year later, he was in charge of training many current electrician license holders and current owners of A-Z. 2 years later, Tom was shop foreman. In 1984, Tom took the test for “Supervising Electrician” and passed. Later, Tom started Proteck Home Security with his old boss from A-Z. Tom was in charge of burglar alarm installations throughout Chicago. He also started his own electrical contracting business as a sub to most general contractors by specializing in repairing and correcting of work done by others.
Which is how he came to be known for “Repairing and updating old wiring our specialty.”