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Bob's Red Mill Founder Bob Moore Dead at 94: 'We Will Truly Miss His Energy'
Moore's death was confirmed on Saturday in a statement shared by the company on social media

Bob Moore, founder of the whole-grain food company Bob’s Red Mill, has died. He was 94.

A statement posted on the official Instagram of Bob’s Red Mill on Saturday announced Moore's death and celebrated his life and "larger than life personality."

“It is with heavy hearts that we share the news that our Founder, Bob Moore, left this world today, Saturday, February 10, 2024,” the statement read. “He was 94 years old and full of the same love for wholesome foods as the day he founded Bob’s Red Mill.”

Alongside the message were photos of Oregon native Moore, including one of the late founder wearing a red Bob’s Red Mill jacket. In a second photo, Moore was joined by his late wife Charlee, who died in 2018, as they sat together.

“Bob’s passion, ingenuity and respect for others will forever inspire the employee owners of Bob’s Red Mill,” the statement continued. “And we will carry on his legacy by bringing wholesome foods to people around the world.”

“We will truly miss his energy and larger-than-life personality,” the message concluded.

A final photo included in the post showed a younger Moore posing with a group of employees outside his shop Moore’s Flour Mill, which he opened in 1974 in Redding, California, prior to developing Bob’s Red Mill.

Representatives for Bob's Red Mill did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.

Moore was born in Portland and grew up in Los Angeles, before moving to Redding and then Milwaulkie in Oregon, according to Portland Monthly.
Bobs Red Mill Founder Bob Moore Dead at 76
Moore pictured with his employees at his shop Moore's Flour Mill. BOB'S RED MILL/INSTAGRAM
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His successful food career began out of a yearning for more health-conscious eating from himself and wife Charlee, whom he married in 1953 after meeting on a blind date the year prior.

“We needed to change our diet,” Moore told PEOPLE in 2019 of their initial idea. “We became quite enamored with all whole-grain, healthy food.”

Shortly after marrying and starting a family, Bob and Charlee opened a stone-ground flour mill in Redding, where they produced healthy cereals and flours. Moore and Charlee later opened Bob’s Red Mill in Milwaukie in 1978, when Moore was 50. The business focused on selling natural foods, and continues to thrive today.

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"If I had my life to live over, I would have started way early in this business. You know, I started in the middle of my life," Moore explained to CBS in a 2020 interview.

However, by 2010, Bob's Red Mill had become a $100 million company which Moore gifted to his employees. “They made us the ultimate company that I’m proud of,” he explained to PEOPLE in 2019.

Moore also discussed this business move with Portland Monthly, explaining that, "the Bible says to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. And so there’s an element of how you treat people that impressed me. And sharing in the profit, sharing in the company to make things more fair and more benevolent impressed me, and I felt strongly about it."

When the pandemic came in 2020, the company saw an exponential rise in products sold along with a stalling in yeast items, according to Moore, after panic over food shortages and baking binges during lockdown.

Moore is survived by his three sons, Ken, Bob Jr., and David, nine grandchildren and six great grandchildren.