James Marker (c. 1922 – May 2, 2012) was an American-born Canadian businessman who invented
Marker was born in
Chicago, Illinois, for many years.
[2] However, Marker invented a new machine used to process
cornmeal.
[1] The machine caught the attention of Marker's
business partner, W. T. Hawkins.
[1] Together, Marker and Hawkins moved to Canada and founded the W. T. Hawkin Company in 1949, which manufactures the Cheezies snack.
[1] Marker and Hawkin originally started their new company in
Tweed, Ontario, to take advantage of the areas railroads to ship their Cheezies.
[2] A fire destroyed their original Tweed factory in 1956, and they relocated to their company's current location in
Belleville, Ontario.
[2]They concentrated exclusively on Cheezies after dropping other snack foods from their portfolio.vegetable shortening, and coated the snacks with aged
cheddar.
[2] No two Cheezies pieces are exactly alike.
[1] Marker's original machine is still used to manufacture Cheezies at the company's plant, as of 2012.
[1] Marker remained Vice President of the W. T. Hawkin Company until his death in 2012.
[1] He last visited the Cheezies factory for a surprise inspection in March 2012.
[1]Outside of the snack food industry, Marker established the
Belleville Aerodrome in Ontario in 1961 and in 1972 established a flying school and air charter business, Loyal Air Ltd.
[1] He frequently used the airport to fly his Apache plane.
[1]
Marker died on May 2, 2012, at his home in Belleville, Ontario, at the age of 90.[1] The W. T. Hawkin's Cheezies factory closed for the remainder of the day upon news of Marker's death.[1]
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