Industry Remembers Former Sunsweet Growers CEO, William 'Bill' W. Haase

William W. Haase, age 63, was born October 29th, 1954 to Shirley Haase and William X. Haase in Bay Village, Ohio.  Bill went to walk with the angels October 25th, 2018 after a long battle with health issues. He enjoyed skiing Whitefish Mountain, target shooting, riding his horse in the mountains, spending time with his family and friends.

After graduating from Bay High School in 1973 he worked at U.S. Steel. Then onto Florida where he had a fishing boat with his Bay Village buddies, it sunk. He became a sheriff’s deputy in Monroe County, Florida, starting as a janitor and climbed the ladder to Detective. On July 23rd, 1978 Bill married Mary Kerr in Plantation Key, Florida.  Bill went to Cleveland State University where he graduated cuma sum laude in 1983.  After graduating college, he worked as a sales rep at U.S. Lines in Ohio and finished his career there as Brazilian Sales manager in 1987. In Miami, Florida he went to work for Del Monte Fresh in sales and rose to V.P. of North American Sales and Marketing. In 1994 moved to Whitefish, Montana and partnered up in the True Value/Ben Franklin. In 1997 he became CEO at Sunsweet Growers for 3 years. In 2000, he became a partner in Delicious Foods which owned the Del Monte brand for dried fruits and nuts and currently owns the Made In Nature Branded organic snack foods business.

He is a member of All Saints Episcopal Church in Columbia Falls, Montana.

Bill is preceded in deathNaturipe Brands LLC by his father, William X. Haase; fraternal grandparents, William and Mary Haase; maternal grandparents, Ted and Gerti Rickert.

Bill is survived by his mother, Shirley Haase Heck; his wife, Mary K. Haase; son, Rick (Pam); daughter, Megan (Nathan); sister, Nancy (Mauricio); brother, Christian (Cathy); grandchildren, Hunter, Abby and Bryce; and numerous other family and friends.

Source: Naturipe Brands LLC