Charles Entenmann, Who Helped Expand Family’s Bakery Nationwide, Dead At 92

MIAMI (CBSMiami/AP) — From frosted donuts to coffee cakes, who hasn’t picked up a box of Entenmann’s baked goods from the supermarket from time to time.

Charles Edward Entenmann, the man who helped turn his family’s New York-based bakery into a national brand, died in Hialeah on February 24th at the age of 92, according to his son.

Entenmann was a grandson of William Entenmann, a German immigrant who founded a bakery in Brooklyn in 1898, delivering baked goods door to door.

The business moved to Bay Shore on Long Island, and the founder’s son, William Entenmann Jr., took over. William Jr.’s wife and three sons inherited the bakery after his death in 1951.

Charles Entenmann focused on engineering and technical aspects of Entenmann’s, while his brother Robert specialized in sales and his brother William concentrated on baking.

The new generation of Entenmanns began delivering to supermarkets and pioneered the use of “see-through” cake boxes to lure shoppers.

After expanding Entenmann’s nationally in the 1970s, the family sold the business to pharmaceutical company Warner-Lambert. The brand has been sold several times since then and is now owned by Bimbo Bakeries USA.

Charles Entenmann, known as Charlie, moved to Florida in the 1980s and founded Biolife LLC, which created technology to help seal wounds, his son said. He also supported and conducted research on cold fusion.

“Nobody knows how he got so smart. He never went to school,” his son said. “I don’t think he ever forgot anything he read.”

While Entenmann’s cakes and pastries have tempted generations of Americans to break their diets, Charlie Entenmann was not among the devotees, his son said.

“I’m going to tell you something that’s been pretty much a secret, most of my life anyway,” his son told Newsday. “He didn’t eat Entenmann’s cake … He just wasn’t a dessert guy.”