Do you recognize this grandfatherly face? You may have seen it in the grocery store, or on a bag of oatmeal in your cupboard.
Bob Moore founded the famous Bob’s Red Mill food company. Mr. Moore died on February 10 at his home in Milwaukie, Oregon. He was 94. Every Bob’s Red Mill food product shows his face. A gentle smile peeks through a snowy white beard. He wears round glasses and a blue cap. Each product bears the words “To Your Good Health” and Mr. Moore’s signature. He left behind a $100 million-per-year business. But people don’t remember him for his money. They remember him for his wholesome breakfast cereals, flours, and other foods.
Mr. Moore grew up in Southern California. He did all kinds of work, from building bridges in the Army to running a gas station. He and his family lived on a five-acre goat farm for a while. There, his wife baked with whole grains, raised chickens, and tended a garden. Mr. Moore described it as “heaven on Earth.”
All this had happened before Mr. Moore even started thinking about milling grain. That idea came to him while he was in a library. He came across John Goffe’s Mill by George Woodbury. The book told of a family that fixed an old flour mill in New Hampshire. Once Mr. Woodbury got the mill running, people flocked to him for whole-wheat flour and cornmeal.
Mr. Moore thought, “I bet I could do the same thing.”
That’s just what he did. He hunted down 19th-century millstones and other equipment. He, his wife, and sons started grinding grains in 1974. That was just the beginning. Mr. Moore wouldn’t start his big mill for another four years.
Why? We serve God well by using the interests He gives us to love and serve others.
