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- Akron Beach Journal
Ohio
Wednesday, March 19, 1997
Gerald Bass, 68, Founder of Frozen Food Company
Akron Native Who Turned Onion Rings and Mushrooms into $1 Million Business
Dies in California Of Heart Failure
Gerald J. Bass, the founder of an Akron company that churned out millions of frozen breaded onion rings and mushrooms, died at Cedar Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on March 13 after suffering heart failure. He was 68. Mr. Bass, an Akron native, moved to California 24 years ago, and made his home in Sherman Oaks. He founded B.B. Foods Corp. in Akron in 1961, after launching the enterprise as part of a produce company. He began with a few employees and a breading machine. By the time he sold the business in 1968, the company had 150 employees and sales had grown from $175,000 to more than $1 million annually. Mr. Bass sold the company to Gorton Corp. of Gloucester, Massachusetts, in a deal that involved an exchange of stock. Gorton later was purchased by General Mills Inc. For a time after the sale to Gorton, Mr. Bass continued to work for the B.B. Foods division. Eventually, the Akron plant and another in Paducah, Kentucky, closed. After Mr. Bass moved to California, he was involved in various business ventures there. He was a graduate of West High School, and was married to the former Dena Pollock, a native of Cleveland. She preceded him in death four months ago. Mr. Bass is survived by brother Sam Bass and sister Evelyn Cheplowitz, both of Akron; son Marc Bass, of Beverly Hills, California; daughter Pamela Bass, of Columbus, Ohio; five stepchildren; and 11 grandchildren. Burial was in California.
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Bassett Family Association Database
1929 - 1997 (68 years)