Milling & Baking News - December 21, 2004 - 17

P E O P L E

Mort Pechter dies at age 81;
headed Harrison Baking Co.
NEW YORK - Morton Pechter, a longtime baking executive, died Dec. 8 in
New York. He was 81.
A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Mr. Pechter
was president of Harrison Baking Co.,
Harrison, N.J., and later was chairman
of the Pechter Baking Group.
Descending from a long line of bakers,
the Pechter family operated a bakery in
Brooklyn for many years. Earlier generations ran bakeries in Vienna, Austria.
Mr. Pechter was a graduate of Ohio
State University and served with the
66th Division of the U.S. Army during
World War II. His division was one of the
first to cross the Remagen Bridge across

the Rhine river in Germany in 1945.
Harrison Baking was sold in 1990 to
AmeriFoods Baking Group, an affiliate
of Merrill Lynch & Co. The baking business was purchased back by a group of
investors, including Mr. Pechter, in 1999.
The business acquired from AmeriFoods included Pechter's Bagel and Pita
Co., bakers of white and rye bread, pita
bread and bagels, primarily for restaurant
and private label sales in parts of New
York, New Jersey and western Pennsylvania. Annual sales at the time the business was bought from AmeriFoods were
about $35 million. The company operates
two baking plants in Harrison.

Active in the Independent Bakers Association, Mr. Pechter for many years
was an I.B.A. vice-chairman and was
chairman of the group's National Affairs
Committee. He most recently was chairman of the I.B.A. Smith-Shaus-Smith
Memorial Scholarship Fund.
Mr. Pechter is survived by his wife,
Kathy, and two children, Barbara Lichtman and Stephen Pechter. Other survivors
include a brother, Karl; sister, Adeline
Adler; three grandchildren and two greatgrandchildren. He was married twice earlier. His second wife, Linda, died in 1996.
Services were held Dec. 12 at Frank E.
Campbell Funeral Chapel in New York.
Memorials may be sent to Smith-ShausSmith Memorial Scholarship Fund, c/o
I.B.A.; P.O. Box 3731; Washington, D.C.
20027. MBN

Jack Vanier stepping down from
ADM board following 26 years
DECATUR, ILL. - John K. (Jack) Vanier,
chief executive of Western Star Ag. Resources, Inc., has retired from the Archer Daniels
Midland Co. board of directors, ending a
26-year association with the company. Since
joining the ADM board in 1978, Mr. Vanier
has been on its executive, nominating/governance and compensation/succession
committees.
"Jack is a quintessential gentleman and
one of the most respected and admired
individuals in agribusiness," said G. Allen

Vanier

Andreas, chairman
and c.e.o. of ADM.
"On behalf of everyone at ADM and the
board of directors,
we will miss his
dedicated service to
the company."
Mr. Vanier was
elected to the ADM
board to replace his
late father, John J.

Pizza Inn dismisses chief executive,
begins search for replacement
THE COLONY, TEXAS - The board of directors for Pizza Inn, Inc. has terminated Ronald W.
Parker as chief executive officer and president for violations of his employment agreement.
The board appointed Rod McDonald, secretary and acting counsel, as acting c.e.o. The
executive changes were held at a special meeting Dec. 11. Pizza Inn has started a nationwide search for a new c.e.o.
Pizza Inn also postponed its annual meeting of shareholders scheduled for Dec. 15.
Mr. Parker joined Pizza Inn in 1992. He was elected executive vice-president, chief
operating officer and a director in January 1993. He became president of Pizza Inn, based
in The Colony, in July 2000.
Mr. Parker took over the c.e.o. duties in August 2002, but the company experienced a
difficult 2004 under his leadership.
B. Keith Clark resigned as senior vice-president June 24. Pizza Inn for the fiscal year 2004
ended June 27 had net income of $2,243,000, which compared with $3,093,000 in fiscal 2003.
Revenues of $60.2 million in fiscal 2004 compared with $58.8 million in fiscal 2003.
For the first quarter of fiscal 2005 ended Sept. 26, 2004, net income was $285,000, which
compared with $504,000 in the fiscal first quarter of 2004. Revenues of $14.4 million compared with $15.4 million in the fiscal first quarter of 2004.
Mr. Parker was named as a defendant in a lawsuit filed in Dallas County District Court
over his employment contract and other actions he allegedly made while working as
a Pizza Inn executive, according to an article in The Dallas Morning News. The lawsuit
stated executive compensation agreements were drafted and/or revised. Rogge Dunn,
Mr. Parker's attorney, said the lawsuit was without merit. MBN

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Vanier, who had been a director since 1970.
It was in the latter year that ADM acquired
the flour milling and related businesses
owned by the Vanier family. The acquisition
made ADM one of the nation's largest flour
millers.
Western Star, based in Salina, Kas., is
an investment and ranching operations
company with one of the world's most
distinguished registered Hereford herds.
The Western Star name actually originated
with one of the original family-owned flour
milling companies.
Mr. Vanier and the Vanier family are
prominent supporters of Kansas State University. He and his three children attended
K.S.U., and the university's football complex is named for the Vanier family. MBN

General Mills adds to
board of directors,
announces dividend
MINNEAPOLIS - General Mills, Inc.
elected Paul Danos to its board of directors
and also declared a quarterly dividend payment at the rate of 31c per share during a
regularly scheduled meeting Dec. 13.
The dividend is payable Feb. 1, 2005, to
shareholders of record as of Jan. 10, 2005.
Dr. Danos is the dean of the Truck School
of Business at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., and the Laurence Whittemore
Professor of Business Administration. He
has held both positions for nine years.
Dr. Danos previously was a professor of
financial accounting and senior associate
dean at the University of Michigan. He has
a Ph.D. in accounting from the University of
Texas and an M.B.A. from the University of
New Orleans.
Because of the election, General Mills will
have 13 members on its board. MBN
Milling & Baking News, December 21, 2004 / 17

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Milling & Baking News - December 21, 2004

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