Edgar Stueve, 86; One of 2 Alta Dena Dairy Founders

Edgar Stueve, who with his brother Harold founded Alta Dena Dairy in 1945 with 61 cows and a milk wagon and built it into what was at one time the largest dairy in the world with 18,000 cows, has died. He was 86.

Stueve died Thursday at his Monrovia home of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Born into a Missouri family of 18 children, Stueve and the others followed eldest brother Elmer to Southern California to work in the burgeoning dairy industry.

While Elmer completed his World War II military service, Edgar and Harold formed the nucleus of Alta Dena, specializing in raw or unpasteurized milk.

Elmer, who died in 1992, bought an Army surplus truck, Alta Dena’s first motorized vehicle, and went on to manage construction and maintenance aspects of the dairy while Edgar and Harold concentrated on animal husbandry and business. The company has employed as many as 70 family members at the same time.

The family also owned Stueve Bros. Farms for more than half a century. The manufacturing operation was sold in 1989, but new owners continued to produce raw milk under the brand name Stueve’s Natural in the family’s honor for another decade. Litigation and legislation over their sale of raw milk, and claims that it caused cases of salmonella and listeria poisoning, forced the Stueves to sell most of their Chino farmland three years ago.

Throughout the years of controversy, Edgar and Harold Stueve consistently worked to assure that their operations set the standard for clean dairy farming. In 1953, they began paying a Medical Milk Commission to inspect their herds and bottling plants and certify their raw milk as safe. Los Angeles County made the commission a part of local government in 1967.

Edgar Stueve served on the Milk Producers Council in Chino, and was active for more than 60 years in the First Lutheran Church of Monrovia.

In addition to his brother Harold, he is survived by his wife, Bee; daughters Jackie Arthur and Jean Behrend; brothers Erwin, Harlen, John, Martin, Melvin, Richard and Wilbert; sisters Edna Moll, Irene Wilson, Manda Petzoldt, Marlene Unger and Wilma Arambwel; five grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

Services are scheduled at 11 a.m. today at First Lutheran Church, 1323 S. Magnolia Ave., Monrovia. The family has asked that any memorial contributions be made to that church or to a charity of the donor’s choice.