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Snack-food icon, 83, built family business with husband
By Marilyn Miller
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Sunday, Jun 22, 2008
Hers was a friendly, familiar face, someone you could surely trust, like your own grandmother.
Grandma Shearer was the face of Shearer's kettle-cooked potato chips and her image helped launch a snack-food empire from Stark County.
Grandma, known to family and friends as Rosemary Shearer, died Friday at her Canton home. She was 83.
''She enjoyed the limelight, but wasn't overwhelmed by it,'' said daughter-in-law Melissa Shearer, vice president of communications with Shearer's Foods in Brewster. ''She was OK with it because it was Grandma Shearer as part of a family project and not Rosemary Shearer, the individual.''
Bob Shearer, president and chief executive officer at the company, said his mother enjoyed the stories that came with the fame, such as Grandma Shearer developed the potato chip recipe and referring to the Brewster-based manufacturing plant as Grandma Shearer's really big kitchen.
She did have a favorite snack from the multiple lines of potato chips, pretzels, tortillas, dips and other snack foods. She enjoyed the cheese curls and kettle potato chips cooked in peanut oil.
''She was always busy. She was raising kids and working full time, always side by side with her husband,'' Melissa said. ''She balanced everything very well and always worked behind the scenes, making sure her husband got all the cred
it for all their hard work.''
Mrs. Rosemary Shearer served as secretary/treasurer for the company.
Born in Massillon, Mrs. Rosemary (McMahon) Shearer attended Notre Dame College in Cleveland and worked for the Massillon AAA before she married Jack Shearer in 1950.
The couple worked together at the family's grocery store, Shearer's Market, in Canton. They purchased the market from Jack's father in 1961.
But Rosemary and Jack Shearer wanted to take another direction. In 1974, they, along with their sons, purchased a small snack-food distributorship. Five years later, convinced they could make a better potato chip themselves, they started making their own hand-cooked, kettle-style potato chips.
Their business was successful because the couple earned the same loyalty from their snack-food customers as they earned the loyalty from their grocery-store customers through their hard work, honesty, integrity and outstanding service, family members said.
In 1989, the couple turned the leadership of Shearer's over to their sons, Bob and Tom, who serves as vice president of business development.
Although Grandma Shearer's icon was removed from the logo in 2004 to stay competitive on the shelves, Shearer's Foods has grown to become one of the nation's largest producers of kettle-cooked chips.
The family recalled how the company went from 150 employees as a start-up business and now employs 700 people.
Rosemary and Jack Shearer began focusing their attention on racing Standardbred horses in the 1990s.
Family members said it was no accident that the couple's horse, Polo Jenn, won its race at Northfield Park shortly after Mrs. Shearer passed away. The eight-year-old horse was said to have made its fastest mark.
''We know she was up there guiding the rider and cheering the horse on,'' Melissa said.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday at St. Mary's Church in Massillon. Friends may call from 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. Monday at Paquelet Funeral Home, 1100 Wales Road N.E., Massillon, Ohio.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Rosemary Shearer's name to the Alzheimer's Association, Greater East Ohio Chapter, 4815 Munson St. N.W., Canton, OH 44718.
Marilyn Miller can be reached at 330-996-3098 or mmiller@thebeaconjournal.com.
Hers was a friendly, familiar face, someone you could surely trust, like your own grandmother.
Get the full article here.
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