Dorothy Harmsen, 91; Co-Founder of Jolly Rancher Candy Co.

Dorothy Harmsen, 91, a co-founder of the Jolly Rancher Candy Co., best known for its fruit-flavored candy bricks, died of a heart attack Aug. 29 in Denver. She had been a resident of the city for some years.

She and her late husband, William, started their confections business in the early 1940s on a 10-acre farm near Denver. They began with ice cream but added candy in 1949, making their products in the barn. Their three children were their main taste-testers.

The couple’s first big success was Fire Stix, a cinnamon- flavored hard candy they introduced in 1950. That led them to an assortment of strong- flavored, slow-melting candy sticks with flavors ranging from apple to watermelon that became the company’s bestsellers.

Harmsen was born in Minneapolis, where she met her future husband on a blind date. They married in 1939. The couple moved to Colorado soon afterward.

They sold their candy business to Beatrice Foods in 1966, retired and spent their time traveling and collecting the art of Georgia O’Keeffe and Frederick Remington, as well as American Indian textiles.

Harmsen and her husband donated about 7,000 pieces from their art collection to the Denver Art Museum in 2001.

She wrote several books, including “American Western Art” in two volumes.

The candy company now belongs to the Hershey Co.