Charles Entenmann dead at 92

NEW YORK - Charles E. Entenmann, who helped make Entenmann's a national brand, has died at age 92.

Entenmann died last month in Key Largo, Florida, but the news was only widely known until this week.

After serving in the Army, Charlie, along with brothers Robert and William and mother Martha, took the family business, Entenmann's Bakery, from Main Street, Bay Shore, New York, to grocers across America.

The Entenmann family was an example of a "great corporate citizen," said Larry Levy of the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University.

"Entenmann's didn't create as many jobs as a Grumman Aerospace did," Levy said. "But they were just as important a part of the social and economic part of Long Island."

Charles E. Entenmann (Bay Shore Alumni Association Photo)

The family sold the business for $233 million in 1978. 

Bimbo Bakeries, the current owner, stopped production of the Bay Shore factory in 2014. A spokesperson said Entenmann was instrumental in turning the Entenmann's brand into a household name and that the company would "continue to build on the mission and legacy" his family established more than 120 years ago.

Entenmann's love for the humanities and Long Island led him to support and advocate for the Great South Bay YMCA in Bay Shore. He funded research to improve water quality and habitats in the Great South Bay. With his brothers, endowed Southside Hospital in Bay Shore with a gift to establish the Entenmann Family Cardiac Center.

Charles Entenmann, left, with his brothers and their father in front of an Entenmann's delivery van. (Bay Shore Historical Society Photo)

In his retirement, his passion for advancing a limitless energy source led to the development of a self-sustaining power cell at his Biosearch LLC research lab. In addition, Charlie started Biolife LLC a company that produces various health care products to stop bleeding.

Entenmann died peacefully on Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022, surrounded by his surviving children.

"I'm going to tell you something that’s been pretty much a secret, most of my life anyway," his son, Charles William Entenmann, told Newsday. "He didn't eat Entenmann's cake… He just wasn't a dessert guy."

Charles Entenmann (Bay Shore School District Yearbook Photo)

He is survived by his daughter, Susan Nalewajk (Robert); son, Charles W. Entenmann (Wendy); seven grandchildren and a plethora of great-grandchildren. His wife, Nancy Lee (Drake) Entenmann and daughter, Barbara Thompson predeceased him.

A private church service was held on March 4, followed by the interment at Oakwood Cemetery in Bay Shore on Long Island.

Entenmann's