Restaurateur Bob Evans, 89, Dies
Ohioan Founded 594 Family Restaurants
POSTED: Thursday, June 21, 2007
UPDATED: 4:46 pm CDT June 21,
2007
CLEVELAND -- Bob Evans, whose name graces more than 500 family restaurants around the United States, has died. He was 89.
Evans died at the Cleveland Clinic after suffering a stroke earlier this year. Family members said Evans was moved to Cleveland from southern Ohio Friday after developing a staph infection.
Bob Evans Farms Inc. said last week that he was being treated at the hospital for pneumonia.
Evans began his business empire selling sausage to the truckers who filled his 12-stool, 24-hour-a-day steakhouse in southeast Ohio.
He retired as president of Bob Evans Farms in 1986. He and his wife, Jewell, lived in southeastern Ohio, where they raised their six children. Evans lived on the farm for more than 20 years.
The company was founded in 1953 in Rio Grande, in Gallia County, and owns and operates 594 full-service family restaurants in 20 states. The company also operates 93 Mimi's Cafe casual restaurants in 13 states and is a producer and distributor of pork sausage products.
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