Vernon B. Stouffer 1901-1974

Vernon Bigelow Stouffer was born in 1901. After graduating from the Wharton School of Business in 1923, he opened a food counter in the Arcade in downtown Cleveland, selling dairy products, sandwiches, and his mother’s (Lena Stouffer) Dutch apple pies. After one year, he and his father (Abraham Stouffer) opened “Stouffer’s Lunch” restaurant at East 9th Street, which featured tasty meals at moderate prices.

 In 1929, Stouffer’s went public as the Stouffer Corporation, and then expanded into frozen foods (1946) and a chain of restaurants and motor inns (1960). In 1965, Vernon opened the premier Stouffer’s Pier W restaurant at Winton Place in Lakewood, Ohio.

Stouffer Foods was selected by NASA for the crew of Apollo 11, 12, and 14. From 1966-1971, Vernon Stouffer owned a controlling interest in the Cleveland Indians baseball team, Vernon Stouffer died on July 26, 1974, and is buried in Lakewood Park Cemetery, Rocky River.

 For the complete article by Gay Christensen-Dean, click here.