* Charles E. Kern; Kern Industries CEO
Charles E. Kern, chief executive officer of Kern Industries who oversaw expansion of the family owned Kern Foods Inc., has died at his Toluca Lake home. He was 72.
Kern died Sunday of cancer, his son Richard Kern said.
Born in Port Huron, Mich., Kern was a child when his father, Julius, a German immigrant, bought California Vinegar Co. in Los Angeles in 1923. Nine years later, the company was incorporated and its name changed to Kern Foods Inc. A graduate of Los Angeles High School, Charles E. Kern served in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II and returned to Los Angeles to become president of the family business.
In the early 1950s, Kern encouraged and oversaw the company’s expansion, making it a major manufacturer of tomato products, jams, jellies and fruit drinks. The company had five plants in and around Los Angeles in addition to subsidiary plants in Ohio, Puerto Rico, Mexico and Guatemala.
When Julius Kern died in 1963, Charles Kern became chief executive officer, a position he held until the company was sold in 1985 to Nestle Foods Corp. Kern served as chief executive officer of City of Industry-based Kern Industries, a metal container division retained from the original family company, until the time of his death.
He was a board member of the International Preserve & Jelly Assn., board member of the National Canners Assn., a former board member of the Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center and a member of the Jonathan Club, the Lakeside Country Club in Toluca Lake, Eldorado Country Club in Indian Wells and Lake Arrowhead Country Club.
He is survived by his wife of 49 years, Westine Kern of Toluca Lake; sons Richard Kern of Toluca Lake, Jay Kern of Glendale and Mike Kern of Van Nuys; daughters Natalie Kern of La Quinta, Calif., and Nancy Kelleher of Toluca Lake; sisters Barbara Davies of Newbury Park and Kay Stockmar of Newport Beach; and four grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church, 10828 Moorpark St., in North Hollywood. Burial will be private. Pierce Brothers Valhalla Mortuary in North Hollywood is handling the arrangements. Donations can be made in Kern’s name to the St. Joseph Medical Center Cancer Foundation, 501 S. Buena Vista St., Burbank 91505.
