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o O o o o w Thursday, December 21, 2000 The Southern Cross, Page 3 Candy Canes and Catholicity: The well-lived life of Robert E. McCormack, Jr. Rita H. DeLorme W hen Robert E. McCormack Jr., died in an Albany hos pital on the last day of De cember in 1991, his passing marked more than the death of the CEO of an established and prosperous business, Bob’s Candies, Inc. Robert McCor mack had succeeded his father, Robert Emmet McCormack, Sr., in a family known in Catholic circles for much more than its material success and trademark peppermint candy canes. The younger McCormack grew up in Albany, attended Saint Teresa’s Church and was a member of the church’s adult choir and its building com mittee. He also acted as president of the Parent- Teacher Association of the parish school. Bob McCormack, Jr., had followed his father into the business of making “the world’s best pep permint candy” as he had emulated him in serving his country during wartime. In 1919, Robert McCormack, Sr., retired his World War I lieu tenant’s bars and, figuratively, donned a cook’s apron, to start the candy company he had dreamt of founding. McCormack’s son, Robert, Jr., graduated from the Naval Academy and saw active duty with the Pacific and Atlantic fleets during World War II. The elder McCormack initially called his candy making operation the “Famous Candy Company.” Assisted by a small cadre of employees, he began making candy canes as a Christmas treat for family and friends and for sale by local stores in 1920. Preparing this traditional candy, shaped like a shepherd’s crook, was no easy feat. The process of producing the cheerily-striped canes involved “twisting, cutting and bending each candy by hand.” Because the work was so labor-intensive, it could only be done on a relatively small scale and Bob’s Candy Company continued to be a modest, local business until the 1950s, when the senior McCormack’s brother-in-law, Gregory H. Keller— Robert E. McCormack, jr. a Catholic priest—devised a way of automating production of the candies. An innovator himself, Robert E. McCormack, Sr., had some years earlier begun wrapping his candy canes individually in the new-in-the-1920s cellophane. When younger members of the McCormack family went on to devise packaging innovations themselves in the 1950s, Bob’s Candies, Inc. was on its way to becoming the largest producer of candy canes in the world. During World War II, when sugar supplies were short, the McCormacks contracted to make special hard candies for soldiers to carry in their ration kits. To console members of the civilian population who craved confections, Bob’s Inc. began making peanut candies, peanut butter cracker sandwiches, etc. With the war over and Father Keller’s amazing machine’s having eliminated the necessity for Jubilee Memorabilia for sale! Three videos connected with the 150th anniversary celebration of the Diocese of Savannah are available for sale. They are: the three-and-a-half hour video of the November 29 Rededication of the Cathedral Mass, $20; the one-hour edited version of the service which aired on WTOC-TV with narration by Father Jeremiah J. McCarthy, $15; and the half-hour video, “A Symphony of the Faithful,” which features the history of the diocese and narra tion by Father McCarthy, $12. Other Jubilee memorabilia for sale are: Coffee mug $3.00 Magnet... $ 1.00 Static cling decal $0.50 Tote bag $5.00 T-shirt (S to XXL) $6.00 Olive cap $5.00 Ballpoint pen $1.00 Pencil $0.10 Lapel pin.. $5.00 Calendar $ 1.00 “One Faith ... One Family” Book $30.00 To order, call Patty Hafferman at the Catholic Pastoral Center, 912-238-2320, or send an e-mail to Diosav@msn.com. stretching candy by hand, the company soon took on larger markets. Robert McCormack, Jr., replaced his father as president of Bob’s Inc. in 1962 and remained in charge until his own retirement in 1989. Son Greg then became head of the firm, launching a third generation of family management of Bob’s Can dies, Inc. Keeping up with the times, the company began offering a rainbow of flavors such as pina colada, bubblegum and blueberry in addition to its old standby, peppermint. The role of the candy cane expanded from being purely decorative in some cases to becoming a new taste sensation. In the late 1990s, candy cane production accounted for 70 percent of Bob’s Candies’ sales and the company crested the market by a good margin. The McCormacks’ remarkable accomplishment of keeping the business family-centered under scores only one aspect of their capacity for dedica tion. Both Robert E. McCormack, Sr. and his wife, Louise Keller, had always been devoted to their community and their church. In time, Robert McCormack, Jr.’s years of service on local and national boards and committees would echo his father’s earlier involvement in these actitivites. Like his father, he became a patron of Saint Ber nard’s Abbey and College. He was invested in the Knights of the Sovereign Order of Malta as his father had been before him. Among honors the younger Robert McCormack received were the Saint Bernard College Benedictine Medal, and an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Southern Benedictine College (Saint Bernard, Alabama). Though his life was busy with the duties of a husband and father and of running a thriving busi ness, Bob McCormack never overlooked his responsibilities to his church. His boyhood pastor at Saint Teresa’s in Albany, Monsignor Daniel J. Bourke, watched him grow up and termed him “a studious and respectful boy.” He was, said Mon signor Bourke, “of good Irish-German Catholic stock” and enjoyed “a great start in life” because of this heritage. Following McCormack’s death in 1991, Monsignor Bourke wrote an appreciation of him, dubbing him “urbane, chivalrous and loyal” and particularly blessed in his wife, children and grandchildren. In summary, Monsignor Bourke declared that Robert McCormack, whom he had known personally since 1935, had “viewed the passing scene from the standpoint of eternity.” A prayer recited daily and carried in his wallet and his heart by this man who was successful in every phase of his life appeared in Monsignor Bourke’s Southern Cross tribute, “Bob McCor mack, An Appreciation.” Resonating with the true spirit of Christmas, that prayer is quoted here: “Our Heavenly Father, we thank Thee for food and remember the hungry. We thank Thee for health and remember the sick. We thank Thee for friends and remember the homeless. We thank Thee for freedom and remember the enslaved. May these remembrances stir us to service that Thy gifts to us may be used for others. Amen.” Rita H. DeLormf i« ~ olunteer in the Dior hives.