Carl Merner Dare

Carl Merner Dare 1917 - 2014: Carl Merner Dare passed away peacefully on Wednesday, April 9 at the age of 96, having lived a very happy and full life. C.M. was a creative and successful businessman who was at the same time a very kind and decent person. The Doerr Biscuit Company was started by C.M.'s grandfather in 1892. Following the untimely deaths of his parents, Webourne and Irene Doerr, in the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918, he was raised by his grandparents. C.M. joined the company in 1933, when he was 16, and became sole owner-operator in 1941 at the age of 24, shortly before a devastating fire burned the Doerr plant to the ground. Even without the fire, the Doerr Company had been struggling to survive for years, as a result of the Depression and the Second World War, and it is a tribute to C.M.'s leadership and vision that he managed to rebuild the moribund business into what is now known as Dare Foods (having anglicized the name in 1945). The company went on to become one of Canada's foremost snack food manufacturers. One of C.M.'s strongest characteristics was his insatiable intellectual curiosity. Circumstances having denied him a university education, C.M. attached great importance to higher education. Among other things, he actively encouraged his children and grandchildren to get as much education as possible. C.M. provided many scholarships to the Eastern Synod of the Lutheran Church, and he was an enthusiastic supporter of the CM Dare Scholarship Fund established by Dare Foods for the children and grandchildren of its employees. C.M. was also a community builder and philanthropist, although always humbly and quietly, and many of our regional institutions have benefited from his leadership and generosity, including, to name just a few, the University of Waterloo, the Grand River Hospital, Conestoga College, the Grand River Conservation Authority, the Ruth Dare Health Clinic in Rosseau, the Stratford Festival, the Kitchener YMCA, and the K-W Symphony, for which he had a special passion. C.M. was instrumental in the founding of the University of Waterloo, and he was the only surviving member of the original Board of Governors in 2007 when he was awarded an honorary doctorate on the occasion of the university's 50th anniversary. Coming as it did on the eve of his 90th birthday, this recognition meant the world to him. C.M. was predeceased in 2003 by his loving wife of 61 years, Ruth, and in 2013, by his good friend Jean Boland. He leaves three children - Bryan (Malkin); Graham (Sandy); and Carolyn (Harmon) - and eight grandchildren - Carla (Scott); Alexa (Patrick); Kaitlin (Jeremy); Tanya (Jason); Jacob (Courtney); Laurence (Natsuko); Sydney (Ryan); and Katherine (Jamieson). It was a great blessing to him that he was well enough to preside over a family get-together just over a week ago that included several of his grandchildren as well as his two new great-granddaughters, Olivia Bryan and Nora Thompson. The family requests no flowers or donations in C.M.'s name, but rather asks that those who knew him take a moment to reflect on the importance of living a good life. A memorial service celebrating his life will be held at St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Kitchener at 11:00 a.m., Wednesday, April 30th.