Robert Jackson Graves ~ 1913-2011

Born Manhattan, Kansas. July 17, 1913. First child of Roy and Grace.

Roy headed off to take a job as a Professor of Dairy Science at Oregon Agriculture College, later to become Oregon State University. Grace and Robert followed a little later by train to San Francisco then a ship to Portland and then by coach to Corvallis.

The family, now numbering four as sister Margaret had joined in 1916, moved back to Maryland in 1917 as Roy went to work for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. They lived in Chevy Chase, Bethesda and Kensington, Maryland. Sister Eleanor was born in 1918, Mary in 1920 and Ralph in 1926. Robert and his sisters went to schools in Washington D.C., walking and riding street cars back and forth to school and home. I do remember him driving me past where one of the farms had been which was now the site of the National Institute of Health.

Robert graduated early from high school. He was sent to a prep school for a year in Toronto, Canada where his mother’s brother was a journalist. He was admitted to Washington and Lee University and was half way through his freshman year when his Father told him he had to come home because the banks had closed and they could no longer pay for him to finish. He then enrolled in Maryland University where he got a BA in Economics. That is where he met Margret Carol Hutchinson, his wife of 54 years. They were married in Takoma Park, Maryland, July 1936.

Robert went to work, in California, for the Garst Hybrid Corn Co.  Once driving with him to the Bay Area on Route 12 through the San Joaquin Delta, Robert pointed out a couple of islands where he had organized test plots of hybrid corn. He worked for the Garst company until 1942. Sally Bob arrived on the scene in June of 1937 and Susan Carol followed in May of 1939.

From June of 1942 until February of 1944 thigs are a little hazy. That might be when he supervised the building of labor camps in California and Arizona. We heard stories but are still working on confirmation.

Roy Anthony “Tony” arrived in January, one month before Robert was commissioned an Ensign in the US Navy. Robert immediately was enrolled in Supply School in Babson Park, Mass. He then made his way to Australia. Eventually he ended up in Darwin trying to source rubber from Indonesia and Timor. Robert was never very forth coming with details about what he did during his time in Australia other than to say that he kept himself occupied bumming rides on supply missions up into Japanese occupied areas.

As a part of those excursions Robert contracted Berri Berri a tropical disease and was sent back to the states. He then did a 12-week class at Harvard in something called “War Adjustment”. From there he was assigned to the Bureau of Supplies and Accounts and the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy in Washington D.C. working there until he was discharged in February 1946.

About this time, as the story goes, Sally started calling him Bobby and for the rest of his life his wife, children, and close friends followed suit. Robert’s father had been a government employee at the Department of Agriculture for 28 years. Coupled with his own experience working in Washington D.C., Robert was always very comfortable dealing with the bureaucracies of the government and the military. Whether that was Real Fresh having contracts to send milk to the troops in Vietnam or pushing back for damages on a contract for a ground breaking new MRE ration item. Later he was highly regarded by his fellow directors of Diamond Walnut Cooperative helping them to navigate the corridors of power for the California walnut industry.

After he was discharged, the family returned to the West Coast, ultimately ending up in Los Angeles. Robert became the controller for a construction company that was building state of the art cantilevered houses in the hills around Los Angeles. Jonathan “Jody” arrived in 1948 while the family lived on Mt Washington in South Pasadena.

In the late 1940’s, Roy Graves along with his partner James Stambaugh patented a process to sterilize fluid milk, hermitically seal it in a metal can which then allowed it to retain its beverage qualities unrefrigerated for months. They then set up a company to license the technology to others who would do the actual manufacturing. Robert decided he would create a company and become a licensee.

Robert was familiar with the Central Valley of California through his work with the Garst company and the building of the labor camps. Visalia was the largest city in Tulare County, which had been a major dairy shed for many years. In 1950, he enlisted the help of some of Visalia’s leaders like Burel Hyde, Clem Buckman and Judge Omar Bradley and he was able to crowd source the capital from the community to build a plant and begin production.

The train almost came off the rails in the first year. A totally separate company was actually responsible for selling the product but it was not doing its job. With a warehouse full of product and no sales happening, Robert took to the road, had the product relabeled and with a new brand on the cans got it sold. All through my grade school years Robert was on the road for most of the summer selling Real Fresh Milk around the world. He developed close and lasting business and personal relationships with the companies’ agents in Hong Kong, Singapore, Manilla and others.

Robert had been a good athlete growing up swimming and boxing in college. But golf became his passion. In social situations and business, he used it to open doors and cement relationships. It was not uncommon for him to step off a long overseas flight and head straight to the golf course.

1955 was an eventful year for the family. Gordon Michael was born in June and in December we were flooded out of the house. The water arrived on Christmas eve and then 10 days later, just when the water had finally been cleaned out, it happened again. The house was made of adobe bricks and if there had been a third surge, the walls would have literally started dissolving.

In 1957, Roy and Grace moved to Visalia. Roy became the Director of Technology for Real Fresh. Over the next 25 years, the company pioneered aseptic food processing technology working with both equipment and packaging companies developing and gaining regulatory approval for new products, packages and processes.

Robert was also ahead of the curve in finding new products and markets. In 1962, Real Fresh acquired Daisy Fresh a line of tropical and exotic juices. Flavors like Mango, Papaya, Coconut Pineapple and Pomegranate. Sold in glass bottles they were innovative and distinctive. Forty years later they have become mainstream and a billion-dollar category. In the late 1960’s, Robert licensed Bartlett Springs a natural effervescent spring water that had a hundred-year history. Consumer reports rated it as one of the best bottled sparkling waters in the country. Again, forty years ahead of its time.

In 1972 tragedy struck. Michael was killed in a single car accident on a mountain road near Three Rivers in which he was the driver. His passenger was unhurt. Michael had been a challenging child for Robert and Carol. He was smart, confident and independent. Dealing with the loss was the only time I ever saw Robert break down.

Robert decided that to retain Real Fresh’s markets in Asia and the Middle East an alternative production site was needed. He sent #1 son (Tony) off to Australia to put a deal together. In 1975 #2 son (Jody) was sent off, letting #1 son come back to California, to manage the new operation. The business made progress until Australia changed its export policy and in 1980 it was decided to fold the tent, selling to our Australian partner, and concentrate on the domestic business back in California.  

In January of 1982 tragedy struck again. Sally had been living in Phoenix and had visited Visalia during Christmas. A call came saying she was in the hospital and before Robert and Carol could get to Phoenix she had passed from virulent pneumonia.

The early 1980’s were also challenging business wise. Real Fresh was struggling with high interest rates and stagnant sales growth. Additional capital was raised through a sale of stock, the first since the initial sales in 1950. The company had been receiving national attention in trade journals for the introduction of new products and packaging but what we didn’t learn till later was that we had attracted the interest of an active investor who took a position in Real Fresh stock. By the mid 1980’s Robert was the Chairman of Board and the company was growing rapidly. New contracts and launching products under its own brands.

Summer of 1988, our active investor sold his interest to the French company Bongrain and Real Fresh was now the target of a hostile takeover. The initial offer was $25 per share, the company resisted but when the price topped $100, it was done. The hardest part for Robert and Carol was having long time friends and shareholders say to them that they were sticking with them only to find out a few days later they had already sold to the French.

Loosing Real Fresh was hard for Robert but even harder was just a year later Carol died from lung cancer. He was adrift for a few years but in June of 1994 Robert married Margie Campbell who brought some joy back in his life. Robert stayed active and involved well into his 90’s, not giving up golf until he was moved into a care facility. His charm and southern gentleman manners served him well all the way until his death from a fall in December of 2011.