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Robert Emmitt 'Bob' Kearney, Wholesale Deli Professional
b.9 May 1918 Clarksburg, Harrison County, West Virginia
d.4 Jan 1986 Riverside County, California
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[edit] About Robert KearneyRobert Emmett "Bob" Kearney was born on 9 May 1918 in Clarksburg, Harrison County, West Virginia, son of John Joseph Kearney, Sr. (b. 1884) and his wife Norah Gay Brown (1888-1971), both born in West Virginia of Irish heritage. Robert's roots in the grocery industry started early, as his father worked as a warehouse superintendent for a grocery wholesaler before the family moved to Akron, Ohio when Bob was five years old. When Bob was still in high school in Akron, he started working part-time as a warehouseman for the Akron Coffee & Grocery Co., where his father was also employed. He continued as a full-time employee for three more years after he graduated from high school in 1935, then he joined the Summit Wholesale Grocery Company in 1938. He continued working for Summit in various positions in warehousing and sales until he decided to move to California in 1950 after visiting there on vacation. He wrote to California co-op grocery wholesaler, Certified Grocers, describing his background and experience and was hired immediately.  While at Certified Grocers, Bob was one of the four men who originally founded the Southern California Deli Council, which later became known as the Dairy/Deli/Bakery Council of Southern California (DDBC), a local food-industry trade association. Bob was present in the early days of the Deli Council when the first meetings were held at Syd Fischer's house until the group was large enough to be held in a small dining room at the Roger Young Auditorium in downtown Los Angeles. While a member, Bob Kearney was awarded the Deli Council's "Big Cheese" Award in January 1966 for his leadership and support of the Council in its formative years. Bob also served as President of another food-industry trade association, the "National Deli & Fine Food Society" during its formation in 1963. In March 1966, Bob resigned his position as Manager of the Delicatessan Division of Certified Grocers. According to the March 1966 Deli News Magazine, Bob was going to "rest for a few weeks with his family and hobbies until he decided to what facet of the food industry that he would apply his knowledge". Afterwards, it was announced in the June 1966 Deli News Magazine that Bob had joined Imperial Food Distributors as its Sales Manager for the meat specialties firm which specialized in Mexican food products, but his stint there was short-lived, as just two months later in the August 1966 Deli News Magazine, it contained an announcment that Bob had formed a new company Robert E. Kearney & Associated to represent food manufacturers in the gourmet and specialty cheese and dairy categories. In 1967, Bob served as Sales Manager for Champion Food Sales, then owned by Sydney "Syd" Fischer, who served as the first Deli Council President in 1960. Bob Kearney returned to the wholesale side of the industry in May 1968 when he was appointed by Certified Corporation of Hawaii to reorganize and develop their purchases of delicatessan products, frozen foods, smoked and frozen meats, eggs and poultry. The Honolulu-based Certified Corporation of Hawaii was a privately-owned wholesale grocer, serving food chains. [Source: May 1968 Deli News Magazine]. In July 1973, Bob joined C.L. Simon Fine Foods as their Sales Manager. [Source: July 1973 Deli News Magazine]. Bob Kearney passed away on 4 January 1986 in Riverside County, California. His contributions to the wholesale grocery industry were many and his leadership and service will be remembered by his co-workers and friends for many years. Image Gallery
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