Charles Courtney Seabrook, 94, Pioneer in Frozen Vegetables
By ERIC PACE
Published: October 10, 2003
Charles Courtney Seabrook, who with his brothers and father carried out food-freezing experiments in the early days of the frozen food industry, died on Saturday at the Friends Home in Woodstown, N.J. He was 94.
In 1930 Mr. Seabrook, his brothers Belford and John, and their father, Charles F., began experimenting with the freezing of vegetables that they had grown on the family's farm near Bridgeton in southern New Jersey. They simply put the vegetables inside wooden boxes with some dry ice.
The Seabrooks eventually formed a partnership with Clarence Birdseye, the Brooklyn-born inventor who is regarded as the founder of the frozen food industry. The partnership marketed a line of frozen vegetables.
Seabrook Farms greatly expanded, eventually raising vegetables on 55,000 acres.
Charles Courtney Seabrook was born in Bridgeton and received a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Lehigh University in 1932. He went on to work for a nursery in New Jersey and then for a family company, Seabrook Engineering.
After World War II, he was in charge of sales at Seabrook Farms, which did well for some years. But in the mid-1950's, a quarrel about overseeing the company split the family, and Seabrook Farms was bought by Seeman Brothers, a New York wholesale grocery company.
After that Mr. Seabrook and his brothers quit Seabrook Farms, and he worked for the Standard Packaging Company until he retired in 1974.
His first wife, Mae Dilks Seabrook, died in 1978. He married Margaret Huber in 1979, and she died in 1997.
Survivors include a son, Roger; two daughters, Barbara Astor and Norma Dale Cartier; a stepdaughter, Trudi Hathaway; a stepson, Joseph Huber; six grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; and his brother John.
By ERIC PACE
Published: October 10, 2003
Charles Courtney Seabrook, who with his brothers and father carried out food-freezing experiments in the early days of the frozen food industry, died on Saturday at the Friends Home in Woodstown, N.J. He was 94.
In 1930 Mr. Seabrook, his brothers Belford and John, and their father, Charles F., began experimenting with the freezing of vegetables that they had grown on the family's farm near Bridgeton in southern New Jersey. They simply put the vegetables inside wooden boxes with some dry ice.
The Seabrooks eventually formed a partnership with Clarence Birdseye, the Brooklyn-born inventor who is regarded as the founder of the frozen food industry. The partnership marketed a line of frozen vegetables.
Seabrook Farms greatly expanded, eventually raising vegetables on 55,000 acres.
Charles Courtney Seabrook was born in Bridgeton and received a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Lehigh University in 1932. He went on to work for a nursery in New Jersey and then for a family company, Seabrook Engineering.
After World War II, he was in charge of sales at Seabrook Farms, which did well for some years. But in the mid-1950's, a quarrel about overseeing the company split the family, and Seabrook Farms was bought by Seeman Brothers, a New York wholesale grocery company.
After that Mr. Seabrook and his brothers quit Seabrook Farms, and he worked for the Standard Packaging Company until he retired in 1974.
His first wife, Mae Dilks Seabrook, died in 1978. He married Margaret Huber in 1979, and she died in 1997.
Survivors include a son, Roger; two daughters, Barbara Astor and Norma Dale Cartier; a stepdaughter, Trudi Hathaway; a stepson, Joseph Huber; six grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; and his brother John.
Charles Courtney Seabrook, 94, Pioneer in Frozen Vegetables
By ERIC PACE
Published: October 10, 2003
Charles Courtney Seabrook, who with his brothers and father carried out food-freezing experiments in the early days of the frozen food industry, died on Saturday at the Friends Home in Woodstown, N.J. He was 94.
In 1930 Mr. Seabrook, his brothers Belford and John, and their father, Charles F., began experimenting with the freezing of vegetables that they had grown on the family's farm near Bridgeton in southern New Jersey. They simply put the vegetables inside wooden boxes with some dry ice.
The Seabrooks eventually formed a partnership with Clarence Birdseye, the Brooklyn-born inventor who is regarded as the founder of the frozen food industry. The partnership marketed a line of frozen vegetables.
Seabrook Farms greatly expanded, eventually raising vegetables on 55,000 acres.
Charles Courtney Seabrook was born in Bridgeton and received a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Lehigh University in 1932. He went on to work for a nursery in New Jersey and then for a family company, Seabrook Engineering.
After World War II, he was in charge of sales at Seabrook Farms, which did well for some years. But in the mid-1950's, a quarrel about overseeing the company split the family, and Seabrook Farms was bought by Seeman Brothers, a New York wholesale grocery company.
After that Mr. Seabrook and his brothers quit Seabrook Farms, and he worked for the Standard Packaging Company until he retired in 1974.
His first wife, Mae Dilks Seabrook, died in 1978. He married Margaret Huber in 1979, and she died in 1997.
Survivors include a son, Roger; two daughters, Barbara Astor and Norma Dale Cartier; a stepdaughter, Trudi Hathaway; a stepson, Joseph Huber; six grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; and his brother John.
By ERIC PACE
Published: October 10, 2003
Charles Courtney Seabrook, who with his brothers and father carried out food-freezing experiments in the early days of the frozen food industry, died on Saturday at the Friends Home in Woodstown, N.J. He was 94.
In 1930 Mr. Seabrook, his brothers Belford and John, and their father, Charles F., began experimenting with the freezing of vegetables that they had grown on the family's farm near Bridgeton in southern New Jersey. They simply put the vegetables inside wooden boxes with some dry ice.
The Seabrooks eventually formed a partnership with Clarence Birdseye, the Brooklyn-born inventor who is regarded as the founder of the frozen food industry. The partnership marketed a line of frozen vegetables.
Seabrook Farms greatly expanded, eventually raising vegetables on 55,000 acres.
Charles Courtney Seabrook was born in Bridgeton and received a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Lehigh University in 1932. He went on to work for a nursery in New Jersey and then for a family company, Seabrook Engineering.
After World War II, he was in charge of sales at Seabrook Farms, which did well for some years. But in the mid-1950's, a quarrel about overseeing the company split the family, and Seabrook Farms was bought by Seeman Brothers, a New York wholesale grocery company.
After that Mr. Seabrook and his brothers quit Seabrook Farms, and he worked for the Standard Packaging Company until he retired in 1974.
His first wife, Mae Dilks Seabrook, died in 1978. He married Margaret Huber in 1979, and she died in 1997.
Survivors include a son, Roger; two daughters, Barbara Astor and Norma Dale Cartier; a stepdaughter, Trudi Hathaway; a stepson, Joseph Huber; six grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; and his brother John.
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