Work continues at Eberhard’s Dairy Products off Evergreen Avenue in Redmond, but things will never be quite the same for the company’s 50 employees.

About a week after Bob Eberhard died, his family and co-workers are still getting over the loss.

“Bob will be greatly missed; he was a fixture in the community. Everyone enjoyed his stories,” Mark Eberhard, Bob Eberhard’s nephew and co-owner of the dairy, said Oct. 2. “It’s a shock, and yet everyone’s coming together to keep delivering milk and ice cream to all the people of Central and Eastern Oregon.”

Robert Lee Eberhard died at 82 on Sept. 26 at his Redmond home after fighting cancer. The 1953 Redmond Union High School graduate was born in Prineville and eventually followed his father into running the family-owned Eberhard’s Dairy, but started his career working for Del Monte.

He worked for the company in San Francisco and Seattle, before going to the Dictaphone Corp.

Eberhard returned to Redmond in 1964 to work for the dairy. Along with his father, John, and brothers Jack and Richard, he helped grow the dairy into the company it is now, with ice cream and other products sold around the state.

Helping behind the scenes

Eberhard was known for giving back to the community, but the public didn’t know about everything he did, said Ron Bryant, a Redmond attorney who was his business partner for 38 years. The men owned numerous businesses, including Erickson’s Thriftway stores, as well as others that aren’t household names.

Eberhard would sometimes make donations under the names of his little-known businesses, so the recipients weren’t aware they came from him, Bryant said.

“Bob is an icon to Central Oregon,” Bryant said. “Most people will never know what he has contributed to the city and county through his businesses. Most people will never know how many people he stepped up and helped finance and mentor.”

After reading tire magnate Les Schwab’s book, Eberhard worked with Bryant to find young people who knew what they were doing to run their businesses. Bryant said they attracted managers by giving them “skin in the game,” a stake in the company without having to pay to buy in.

“Even though they didn’t put up any money, they had an interest that built up to a substantial amount over the years,” he said.

Eberhard was always honest, straightforward and creative — a great person to work with, Bryant said. They were always able to trust each other.

“Never once in 38 years did we have an argument about the things we were doing,” he said. “Bob was the kind of guy, if he made a deal and I didn’t know about it, that was OK with me. It was the same thing if I made a deal he didn’t know about.”

Among Eberhard’s largest beneficiaries were the two colleges he attended — Central Oregon Community College, where he later served on the board, and Oregon State University, where he graduated with a degree in business with a technical minor in dairy products.

He met his wife, Kaye, at OSU and married her in 1958. She went on to become a longtime educator in Redmond. They adopted two children, Theodore Lee in 1964 and Holly Lynn in 1965.

Ted died in 2011 of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Kaye died in March 2016.

A friend for life

Bob Eberhard was someone you could count on as a friend for life, said Doug Zitek, who began his friendship with Eberhard in high school. The two met at football practice after Eberhard’s family returned to the area from living in The Dalles.

“He was just a top-notch kid,” Zitek said. “He was a good student and classmate. He was a hard worker.”

Later on, Eberhard worked to organize reunions of former Redmond Union students, Zitek said.

“He was just a wonderful guy,” he said. “He helped everybody and kept in touch with everybody.”

Love for Redmond

Brenda Turner’s term as executive director of the Redmond Chamber of Commerce from 1984-93 included Eberhard’s time on the board. He served as Chamber president in 1986.

“He was a breath of fresh air,” Turner said. “I’m an early riser, I knew I could call him at 6 in the morning and he’d be at work already. I’d be at work too.”

When the Chamber was looking for new ways to raise money, Eberhard came up with the idea of the Dinner, Dance & Auction. The event continued annually for 30 years. Money raised at the event helped lead to the creation of what is now Redmond Economic Development Inc.

“We had guest chefs and an auction,” Turner said. “That really let us fill in the gaps and do the important things we had planned.”

Eberhard also worked with the Chamber to encourage businesses to move operations to Redmond, Turner said. That helped bring jobs to the community.

“He lent a lot of credibility to the Chamber at the time,” she said. “He was absolutely willing to roll up his sleeves and do what he could to protect business in Redmond.”

Eberhard was known for his television commercials promoting his dairy’s ice cream, but he also took to the airwaves in 2008 to push for a then-controversial school bond package that led to the construction of Ridgeview High School.

“You look up the term ‘pillar of the community’ and you see a picture of Bob Eberhard,” Redmond School District Superintendent Mike McIntosh said in a statement. “From the Redmond Chamber to the many boards he served on, Bob was active in almost everything. He was reliable, honest and an all-around solid community partner. I cannot count how many different ways Bob and I have worked together over the years.”

Not surprisingly, many great memories of Eberhard involve ice cream.

Bryant said he will miss the private lunches he had with Eberhard several times a month, along with the ice cream he would bring to them.

Turner recalls Eberhard bringing the eclipse-themed solar swirl ice cream to a recent dedication of a statue in Kaye Eberhard’s memory. The statue, which illustrates the importance of education, is temporarily on display behind Redmond’s new City Hall and is expected to eventually be moved to the expanded Centennial Park.

Eberhard was touched by the statue, which Turner helped raise $17,000 for as a Leadership Redmond project.

Family business goes on

Eberhard continued coming in to work, even while fighting cancer, Mark said. He worked for a few hours each day up until a few weeks before his death.

Mark Eberhard started working at the dairy bagging ice with his brother when he was 11. He started working closely with Bob Eberhard about 12 years ago in positions including production manager and general manager, being mentored by his uncle the entire time.

“He was big on culture, the culture was very important to him,” Mark said. “The culture is something you learn, it was something you have to do.”

That included building with the right people and preparing a plan for after Eberhard was gone. Mark feels confident in the group that includes production manager Ron Jackson, operations manager Mike Prom and office manager Michelle Wobbe.

Mark said he will most miss Eberhard’s warm smile and friendship.

“He always had a nice smile on his face,” he said. “He always had an encouraging word.”

But all of Redmond will miss Bob Eberhard’s community involvement, though Eberhard’s will stay in Redmond and stay involved, Mark said.

“I think that’s the biggest thing that will be missed is his status in the community,” Mark said. “He always had a kind word for everyone.”

A public celebration of life for Eberhard is planned for Oct. 14. It will, naturally, be followed by an ice cream social.

— Reporter: 541-548-2186, gfolsom@redmondspokesman.com