I'm heartbroken to report that my father, the founder of Cape Cod Potato Chips, Chatham Village Foods and Late July's co-founder, died Saturday morning. Thank you for your kindness and for taking time to share stories about how he touched your lives. His legacy will live on in all the food products he created and everyone at Late July will work hard every day to honor that legacy. As a final tribute, you will find an illustration of him on the front of our new cookies spending time with my mother, his dog and his grandsons.
Steve Bernard
Founder of Cape Cod Potato Chips & Legendary Entrepreneur
Steve Bernard, a man who lived life to its absolute fullest and was never told what to do, died peacefully looking into the eyes of his lifelong sweetheart during the sunrise of Saturday morning, March 7th, 2009. He was 61.
A tireless hard-worker who would never give up on anyone or anything. A champion of the underdog, the Briard dog and the hair of the dog. A competitive, compassionate, contrarian. A food lover, a wine lover, and an organic gardener. A family man who loved running, golfing, gambling, Notre Dame football, and a good game of mini golf with his grandsons. A fearless, incredibly humble, force-of-nature of a man who could only be stopped by terminal cancer.
Steve Bernard’s most famous accomplishment is how he revolutionized the food industry and inspired thousands of other small businesses when he founded Cape Cod Potato Chips in 1980. His first of three successful food businesses that he founded. He was an entirely self-made man who lived a life with no regrets, and was only sorry that he won’t be around to take his beloved grandsons fly-fishing and golfing.
Born on August 25, 1947 in Concord, New Hampshire the youngest of five to Sergius and Mary, he was a rebellious, independent spirit from an early age proudly standing up many a larger football player on the field or bully on the playground. After graduating from the University of Notre Dame with a degree in Economics in 1969 he set out with his friend on an adventure that would last several years. Hitchhiking across the country, they fought forest fires in Alaska, sailed from New England to the Turks & Caicos, lived in a pipe in Puerto Rico, raised chickens on a farm, and worked on a tuna fishing boat off New Bedford, MA.
After returning to Cape Cod in 1971, he reconnected with the love of his life Lynn, who he met years before at the Newport Folk Festival, and they decided to get married. It was Lynn who introduced Steve to the natural food business when she opened her health food store in 1978. They weathered many storms together and he would be the first to say that she was his lighthouse until the very end.
On July 4, 1980 with absolutely no knowledge of how to make potato chips, he opened the doors of Cape Cod Potato Chips. That winter he nearly lost it all when a motorist drove through the front window of the small factory barely missing his wife and 8-year-old daughter. But because of the publicity and the insurance money the business began taking off and by the next summer, there were lines out the door. Over the next few years, the company grew to national distribution. Along the way, Steve has helped countless others get their start, including many people who would later become competitors. He loved to give tours of the factory and took great pride in helping other entrepreneurs.
He eventually sold Cape Cod Potato Chips to Anheuser-Busch, bought it back and subsequently sold it again to Lance in 1999. In between, he opened a sandwich shop in 1988, which led to the founding of Chatham Village Foods in 1990. Chatham Village made gourmet croutons and also gained international distribution.
By 1999, he had sold Cape Cod Potato Chips and Chatham Village Foods and retired to Sanibel Island, Florida. In 2001, his only child and much-adored protégé, Nicole lured him out of his hard-earned retirement to co-found Late July Organic Snacks. They officially opened their doors in 2003 and worked side by side, often with his grandchildren crawling between them, until his passing. He viewed Late July as his last, great business contribution and was pleased that it allowed him to pass his knowledge to his daughter.
He was extremely proud of the many food products he created, but his favorite remained the original, lightly salted kettle-cooked potato chip. He was ever the perfectionist when it came to his products and nothing bothered him more in life than when his product didn’t come out just right. A plant manager’s worst nightmare, but a customer’s best friend.
Survivors include his wife of 37 years Lynn, his daughter Nicole and son-in-law Peter, hisgrandsons Stephen and Benjamin, his brothers Sergius, Jude and Jimmy, his sister Virginia, his sisters-in-law Darby, Gretchen, Diane, Nancy, Nilda, and Sharon, his brothers-in-law L.J., Kenneth, Damien and Peter, his mother-in-law Theresa, his nieces and nephews, his many lifelong friends and his four Briards. His parents, Sergius and Mary, his father-in-law Leni and his beloved dog Benny preceded him in death.
In lieu of flowers, it was his desire that you make a donation to the Jimmy Fund (www.jimmyfund.org), his favorite charity, and that you go out and make a sizable purchase from your favorite small food business. The wake will be held Friday, March 13th from 4-8pm at the John Lawrence Funeral Home in Marstons Mills, MA and a celebration of his life will be held Saturday, March 14th at 10am at the Cotuit Federated Church.
