Marshmallows ‘Father of Glances’ Bob Bourne dies at 98

Ira “Bob” Bourne, a candy company executive known as the “Father of Pips” for mechanizing the process of making marshmallow chicken, has died. He was 98.

Just Born Quality Confections, the century-old family company that Born has run for most of his life, said on Monday that he passed away peacefully on Sunday.

Born began his life in New York on September 29, 1924. His father, Sam Bourne, was a Russian immigrant who founded Just Born shortly before his son was born. The family later moved to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where Just Born is still based.

Bob Born graduated from Lehigh University with a degree in engineering physics. He enlisted in the US Navy and served as a radar specialist and lieutenant on a destroyer in the Pacific. The Navy later sent him to the University of Arizona and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for graduate work in mathematics and physics.

Born applied to medical school and was accepted, but while he was waiting for classes to start, he went to work at Just Born. He fell in love with the confectionery business and decided to stay.

“The candy business was something catchy… he was interested,” Ross Bourne, Bob Bourne’s son, told the Lehigh Valley News. “He enjoyed science, technology, processing. He was very passionate about the equipment.”

In 1953, Just Born acquired Rodda Candy Co., a jelly bean maker that had a side business of making hand-shaped marshmallows. At that time, marshmallows took about 27 hours to make.

Bob Bourne saw the potential in candy, so he and a company engineer designed and built a machine to make them in less than six minutes. The company’s current machines, which are still based on the Bob Bourne design, now produce 5.5 million Peeps a day.

Peeps, delicious marshmallow treats, are an Easter staple. Learn how colorful chickens and rabbits are made.

Seventy years later, Peeps remains Just Born’s most recognizable candy brand, according to the company. Just Born makes about 2 billion Peeps every year, or enough to circle the globe two and a half times. It is most sold around Easter, but there are also versions sold on Halloween, Valentine’s Day, and other holidays.

Bob Born also came up with the recipe for another popular Just Born candy – Hot Tamales. Just Born also makes Mike and Ike fruit gummies and Goldenberg peanut gummies.

Bob Bourne became president of Just Born in 1959, a position he held for over 30 years. He last visited the Just Born factory on February 15, 2019, when the city of Bethlehem declared the first day of the Easter season “Bob’s Birthday.”

He spent much of his retirement in Florida, where he ran a literacy program and dabbled in photography. He was active until, in the months before his death, he found it difficult to recover from a severe fall.

“Bob will be remembered as a tireless and passionate advocate for the confectionery industry and a wonderful supporter of our community,” David Shaffer, co-CEO and chairman of Just Born, said in a statement released by the company.

He left behind a widow, Patricia; children Sarah and Ross; five grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. His funeral will be private.