Al Reser dies at 74
Al Reser was in his senior year at Oregon State University when he invented his first chip dip.
Made from sour cream instead of cream cheese, the recipe, developed with the help of OSU's food science department, signaled a turning point for Reser's family food business, started in a Cornelius farmhouse.
Reser's dip discovery was an immediate hit, sending him on his way to becoming a refrigerated food giant. And it also helped to solidify Reser's loyalty to his alma mater, a recipient of his generosity for years to come.
Reser, CEO and chairman of Reser's Fine Foods, a philanthropist and "Beaver Believer," died Monday night at the age of 74.
According to a statement issued by his family on Tuesday, Reser passed away in his sleep at his Sarasota, Fla., vacation home while on a short getaway.
Reser's contributions transformed Oregon State University, whose football stadium bears his name and where buildings continue to rise with his millions of dollars in donations.
An avid supporter of civic causes across the Portland metro area, he supported organizations from the Portland Rose Festival Foundation to Special Olympics Oregon.
"Al touched the lives of anyone he met -- and thousands more through his support," Gov. Ted Kulongoski said in a statement on Tuesday. "Al Reser was a man of great generosity, kindness and compassion."
Born in Kansas, Reser moved with his family through the Midwest during the Depression, eventually arriving in Oregon.
To make ends meet, his mother, Mildred, made potato salad in their farmhouse kitchen, while his father, Earl, sold it door-to-door to butcher shops and mom-and-pop stores.
In 1951, Mildred took her potato salad to the new Safeway in Hillsboro and asked the store if it was interested in buying it, said Kerry Tymchuk, working on a biography of Reser -- "No Small Potatoes" -- that Oregon State Press planned to publish this year.
The manager tasted the salad, Reser notes in "No Small Potatoes," and "asked my mother a question she never expected: Could she supply potato salad to not just the Hillsboro store but to every Safeway store in Oregon?"
At age 12, Reser worked sometimes 24 hours a day to deliver his mother's potato salad fresh to grocery stores every Sunday.
"He might get by on two hours of sleep and was like that even later in life," said Don Krahmer Sr., 78, a lifelong friend who was with Reser when he passed away. "He was easygoing, but very driven and self-disciplined."
In 1960, Reser graduated with a degree in business administration at OSU, where he met his wife, Pat. At the age of 25, he became CEO of Reser's Fine Foods and moved the company to Beaverton.
Over the next 50 years, Reser grew the company from a local business with $300,000 in annual sales to an international brand boasting $800 million in sales of its deli items such as salads, pasta, salsa and chip dips.
Today, Reser's Fine Foods Inc. employs 2,000 workers, half of which are in Oregon, and operates a dozen processing plants across the country.
"He got big, but he never got conceited," Krahmer said. "He cared about people who really needed money. He figured that's where he came from so he always gave back."
Reser's philanthropic record can be seen across the Oregon State University campus, in the annual Grand Floral Parade and in Special Olympics events.
He single-handedly paid off OSU's athletic department's debt. In 1999, he made a $5 million donation to the school's football stadium and threw in a $12.5 million gift in 2002 to change the name to Reser Stadium until at least 2038.
Reser's contributions to Oregon State's football program had a lasting impact. That gift -- the largest in the history of the athletic department -- jump-started OSU's stadium expansion project that increased capacity to 45,674, led to the recruitment of better athletes and put the Beavers in a position to contend for the Pacific-10 Conference championship the past two seasons.
"(Al Reser) and his family are the architects of whatever success this department has enjoyed," OSU athletic director Bob De Carolis said in a statement. "While he may be gone from this earth his legacy and spirit will be with us for a long time."
Reser also supported OSU's academics, giving $10.65 million to the new science center, slated for completion next year. OSU presented Reser with the E.B. Lemon Distinguished Alumni Award just last Saturday .
"He's done so much for this school and this community," said Edward Ray, OSU president. "He was a wonderful person. Wonderfully successful in business and wonderfully successful in family."
Since 1989, Reser also played a major role in the annual Rose Festival, putting dollars to ensure award-winning floats every year that he would help to design conceptually.
On Tuesday, the Rose Festival Foundation announced it was naming the Sweepstakes Award -- the highest honor in the parade -- after him.
Reser is survived by Pat, his wife of more than 50 years, and their children, Mindy, Michelle, Mark, Mike and Marty. Funeral arrangements have not yet been announced.