Robert Gene Moore (February 15, 1929 – February 10, 2024) was an American food executive and philanthropist. He and his wife Charlee founded Bob's Red Mill, a brand of whole-grain foods and baking products, in 1978. Known for his white beard, red vest, bolo tie, and flat cap, an illustration of Moore's face is found on all of the company's products, alongside the salutation "To Your Good Health".
Bob Moore | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Moore in 2012 | |
| Born | Robert Gene Moore February 15, 1929 Portland, Oregon, U.S. |
| Died | February 10, 2024 (aged 94) Milwaukie, Oregon, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Cofounder and board member of Bob's Red Mill |
| Spouse |
Charlee Coote
(m. 1953; died 2018) |
| Children | 3 |
Born in Portland, Oregon, and raised in San Bernardino, California, he had a number of jobs throughout his life, including serving in the United States Army, owning a pair of gas stations, and working at J.C. Penney. He discovered his passion for whole-grain milling in the mid-1960s, when he started up Moore's Flour Mill in Redding, California, in 1974. After briefly retiring to learn to read the Bible in its original languages, Charlee and Bob ended up opening up another flour mill in Milwaukie, Oregon, that became Bob's Red Mill. The company grew to $100 million in revenue by 2010, at which point he transitioned the company to an employee stock ownership plan based on his religious convictions. He retired as CEO in 2018, remaining a board member until his death in 2024 at age 94.
Early life and education
editRobert Gene Moore was born in Portland, Oregon on February 15, 1929, to Ken and Doris Moore. He had a younger sister named Jeannie.[1] He was raised in San Bernardino, California. During his youth, his father had a job driving a Wonder Bread truck.[2][1]
Moore graduated from high school and then served in the United States Army for three years, building roads and bridges on Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands.[2]
Career
edit
After the Army, Moore worked as an electronics technician at U.S. Electrical Motors Company, where he met his eventual wife Charlee Lucille Coote.[2][3] He later managed gas stations in Gardena and Mammoth Lakes, California. After those failed, he moved with his wife to Sacramento, where he worked at Sears.[2] By the mid-1940s, Moore had moved to Redding, California, where he managed a J.C. Penney auto shop.[1]
Moore's drive for healthier foods started with his father's death of a heart attack at age 49, and his grandmother's healthy eating obsession. He began experimenting with stone-ground flours in the mid-1960s after reading John Goffe's Mill by George Woodbury, a book about an archeologist who rebuilt a flour mill and went into business with no prior experience.[4]
Bob, Charlee, and two of their sons, Bob Jr. and Ken, opened Moore's Flour Mill in Redding, California, in 1974.[5][6] The business was located in a vacant Quonset hut.[2] Following a desire to read the Bible in its original languages, they left the business to their children to study at Western Evangelical Seminary, a seminary school in Oregon.[2] They originally intended this to be their retirement.[1] Soon after moving though, the couple came upon an old feed mill that was set to be torn down. They founded Bob's Red Mill Natural Foods in 1978 in the old feed mill in Milwaukie, Oregon.[7][8][5] An illustration of Moore, who was described as a "folksy, almost Santa-like figure who often donned a red vest or coat" by The Washington Post, is found on all of the company's products, alongside the salutation "To Your Good Health".[2] The use of Moore’s image on the company’s products occurred a few years after the company was started when a friend suggested that Moore himself should appear on the packaging.[9]
In 1988, the mill was torched by an arsonist.[10][2] The company reopened in 1989, growing to national distribution and, in 2000, international distribution.[7] Bob's Red Mill grew to $100 million in revenue by 2010, with business expanding globally. Moore transitioned the company of then 209 workers to an employee stock ownership plan that year.[11] By April 2020, the company was entirely owned by its more than 700 employees. Moore described his plan for employee ownership and profit-sharing as rooted in his Christian belief that "The Bible says to do unto others as you would have them do unto you."[2][12][1]
Moore retired as CEO in 2018, remaining a board member at Bob's Red Mill until his death.[7]
Philanthropy
editIn 2011, the Moores donated $5 million to Oregon State University to develop a center to study whole grains called the Moore Family Center for Whole Grain Foods, Nutrition, and Preventive Health.[13] Their donation also helped establish the Charlee Moore Institute for Nutrition & Wellness at Oregon Health & Science University.[13]
Personal life
editIn 1953, Moore married Charlee Lucille Coote, with whom he had three sons: Ken, Bob Jr., and David. She died in October 2018.[3] Bob Moore died at his home in Milwaukie, Oregon, on February 10, 2024, five days before his 95th birthday.[14][2] He had nine grandchildren and six great-grandchildren at the time of his death.[7]
Moore was a Christian.[1] He was known for his white beard, red vest, bolo tie, and flat cap and playing the piano.[1][2][15][16]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g "Bob Moore, Who Founded Bob's Red Mill, Is Dead at 94". The New York Times. February 13, 2024. Archived from the original on February 14, 2024. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Smith, Harrison (February 12, 2024). "Bob Moore, founder and face of Bob's Red Mill, dies at 94". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on February 13, 2024. Retrieved February 13, 2024.
- ^ a b "Charlee Moore Obituary (1928–2018) – Portland, OR". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on February 13, 2024. Retrieved February 13, 2024 – via Legacy.com.
- ^ Snider, Suzanne (April 26, 2011). "Bob Moore: a man with a mill and a mission". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on April 1, 2023. Retrieved February 11, 2024.
- ^ a b Moore, Bob (July 17, 2010). "Still Minding the Mill". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 12, 2022. Retrieved February 12, 2024.
- ^ Short, Bill (January 11, 1975). "2 century-old millstone to grind flour in Redding". Record Searchlight. p. 28. Retrieved February 14, 2024 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d Jackson-Glidden, Brooke (February 12, 2024). "The Founder of Bob's Red Mill, One of the Country's Most Famous Whole Grain Brands, Has Died". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on February 13, 2024. Retrieved February 13, 2024.
- ^ Slovic, Beth (February 11, 2024). "Founder of Bob's Red Mill, Bob Moore, dies at 94". oregonlive.com. Archived from the original on February 11, 2024. Retrieved February 11, 2024.
- ^ Kurutz, Steven (February 20, 2024). "How Bob Moore, of Bob's Red Mill, Got Grocery-Store Famous". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
- ^ Mill Fire Coverage by Paul Linnman (Video). KATU (TV). 1988 – via YouTube.
- ^ Rogelberg, Sasha. "Former gas station owner and J.C. Penney manager who became a millionaire after 50 dies at 94, leaving his company to employees". msn.com. Fortune Magazine. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
- ^ Hayes, Kelly (February 12, 2024). "Bob's Red Mill founder Bob Moore dies at 94". fox10phoenix.com. Archived from the original on February 12, 2024.
- ^ a b Canivel, Roy (February 13, 2024). "Bob Moore, Founder of Bob's Red Mill Has Died, Leaving His Company to Its Employees". Inc. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
- ^ "Bob Moore, founder of an Oregon-based global food company, dies at 94". opb.org. Archived from the original on February 11, 2024. Retrieved February 11, 2024.
- ^ Bilow, Rochelle (May 12, 2015). "Get to Know Bob, the Man Behind Bob's Red Mill Products". Bon Appétit. Archived from the original on May 28, 2023. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
- ^ Chew Hamilton, Katherine (February 17, 2023). "Bob Moore of Oregon Whole Grains Company Bob's Red Mill Turns 94". Portland Monthly. Archived from the original on February 14, 2024. Retrieved February 14, 2024.