Charles Entenmann, who helped bring baked goods to supermarkets, dies at 92

[left-of-center2012]

Charles Edward “Charlie” Entenmann, who helped expand his family’s Long Island, New York, bakery from a local delivery service to a household name, died last month. He was 92. An obituary said Entenmann died “peacefully” on Feb. 24 in Florida, where he lived, surrounded by his surviving children.

Entenmann’s, now a supermarket staple, was opened by Charlie Entenmann’s grandfather, William, in Brooklyn in 1898, according to the company website. Entenmann’s built a baking facility on five acres in Bay Shore, later expanding to 14 acres. The company was sold in 1978 and has changed hands a few times since. It is now owned by Bimbo Bakeries USA.

His love for the humanities and Long Island led him to support and advocate for the Great South Bay YMCA in Bay Shore.
He funded research to improve water quality and habitats in the Great South Bay.
With his brothers, endowed Southside Hospital in Bay Shore with a gift to establish the Entenmann Family Cardiac Center.

In his retirement, his passion for advancing a limitless energy source led to the development of a self-sustaining power cell at his Biosearch, LLC, research lab. In addition,
Charlie started Biolife, LLC, a company that produces various healthcare products to stop bleeding.

https://news.yahoo.com/charles-entenmann-helped-bring-baked-162805824.html

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/newsday/name/charles-entenmann-obituary?id=33396300

[superpatriotman]

1. Those chocolate donuts!

We used to call them ‘waxys’ - soooo good.

[Luciferous]

5. Every once in a while we buy the variety box and they are gone within a day or two lol

[Hiawatha Pete]

23. My favorite was the chocolate creme filled cupcakes.

We used to buy boxes of them them at the Dash market in upstate NY. Hope to again soon now that the border has reopened to vaxed & boosted Canadians.

[madaboutharry]

2. When I was a kid in New Jersey, there was an Entenmann's store

close to the town I lived in. Those chocolate donuts are among my favorite childhood memories.

[marybourg]

3. I was an avid consumer of his products,

shopping for them first in Brooklyn, then at the factory outlet store in Bay Shore, then finally in supermarkets everywhere. There was a buy out of Ebingers somewhere in there, too.

[bucolic_frolic]

4. You buy products all the time but rarely think of the people behind them

I always found it a bit stiffly priced for my budget, but it's good to know he did good things with the profits

[3Hotdogs]

8. The people behind them.... Wise Potato Chips.

I visited the factory about 20 years ago, on a sales call. I noticed a scrap book of newspaper articles on the table in the waiting room and began to thumb through it. Several of the articles were about a fire that took place at Wise in the 1950's. Wise was out of business for almost a year.

This was in central Pennsylvania where several other potato chip manufacturers have their plants.... Herr's, Snyders and such. Anyway, these competitors rallied and produced potato chips under the Wise name and packaging until Wise got back on their feet.

[Prof. Toru Tanaka]

18. Very nice story and that area of Pennsylvania is

certainly a huge producer of potato chips and pretzels. Utz in particular is a big seller in the Baltimore area. I have always been a fan of Utz and Snyders products.

Being originally from the Baltimore area, I also remember the Charles Chips and Charles Pretzels tins from my childhood. Their chips were pretty tasty, too!

[Prof. Toru Tanaka]

15. We get them at our grocery store when they do a BOGO sale.

Their variety box is very good! It was interesting to read about Mr. Entenmann who seemed like a person who cared about much more than company profits. RIP and my condolences to his family and close friends.

[Botany]

6. A life well lived.

Last edited Fri Mar 11, 2022, 10:08 AM - Edit history (1)

Put this into my little toaster oven with some butter on top, some fruit, and coffee and my day was gonna be good.

[TNNurse]

7. Our favorite.

[LittleGirl]

10. I Loved the cinnamon ones, omg. Yum!

[Liberal In Texas]

13. Loved the coffee cake.

Back when I ate that kind of stuff with no regrets and no weight gain.

RIP sir.

[twodogsbarking]

9. They are at the end of the aisle.

[left-of-center2012]

11. In the bakery at my store with the deli breads, rolls, donuts, etc.

Not in the 'bread aisle' nor "at the end of any aisle" here.

[twodogsbarking]

12. Seinfeld reference.

[Tommymac]

14. Godspeed MR. Entenmann. Your all butter pound cake is to die for.

I remember my first - 1977 at my sister's house in NJ.

One of the few firsts I do remember lol.

[MissMillie]

16. It absolutely is!

When I don't make buttermilk biscuits for strawberry shortcake, I use that pound cake.

[SYFROYH]

17. My mother would be the coffee cake and it never lasted more than 3 hours in the house

She would get so mad at us because there wouldn't be any for the next morning.

[milestogo]

19. Thanks for the extra 10 lbs of fat that never left my hips.

[Wednesdays]

20. We used to have an Entenmann's outlet near us

I don't know if they still make it, but their Louisiana crunch cake was to die for.

[Farmer-Rick]

21. Stopped eating them when I quit smoking and my weight got out of control

Can't eat them anymore without retaining water and feeling awful. But they were great when I was a kid. Those tiny chocolate donuts, so addictive.

I like his Noblesse Oblige attitude.

[Oppaloopa]

22. I can still remember the joy my parents had eating Entenman's pecan coffee cake

[VWolf]

24. A relative of mine worked for Entenmann's about 20 years ago.

He used to bring me those incredible chocolate donuts all the time.

This was back in the day when I was able to metabolize them before they went to my gut. Those days are long over LOL.

[Grumpy Old Guy]

25. It's also kosher.

My orthodox Jewish friends all love Entenmann's.

[niyad]

26. Requiescat in pace, good soul. Thank you for tasty memories, and for all your

other work as well.

Will have a piece of crumb cake with my coffee this morning.

[CaptainTruth]

27. I'm lucky I'm allergic to everything they make.

All their products look so delicious but I'm allergic to soy (specifically the protein molecule in soybeans) & every Entenmann's product I've looked at contains soybean oil. I say I'm "lucky" though because if I could eat their products I'd probably be 20 pounds heavier.

He certainly established an empire of sweet treats, may he rest in peace.

[Dave says]

28. Entenmann's coffee cakes !!

Long ago, when I was a kid, Entenmann’s coffee cakes put me in heaven. They were a regular part of our extended family gatherings. So tasty when fresh! Charles Entenmann is probably munching on one in heaven right now!

When I moved away from NY, Entenmann’s was generally unavailable. But, soon, in my Midwest outpost, they started appearing on shelves. I recall thinking they weren’t as tasty as I remembered them. They were probably the same, but I guess over time tastes change.

Oh, their donuts were unbelievably good, too. The trick was to get them when they were fresh.