Carl Merner Dare

1917 - 2014  (96 years)

• Name	Carl Merner Dare
  Born	27 Jul 1917	Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [1, 2]
  Gender	Male
  Business	C. H. Doerr Company - later Dare Foods Ltd.
  		Kitchener-DareFood-0001-Fire1943-KitcheneRecord.jpg Dare Foods Fire 1943 - Archives Database (1970) Doerr, C. H. fire. Available at: https://archives.uwaterloo.ca/index.php/doerr-c-h-fire-2 (Accessed: 24 August 2024).
  Residence	1920	135 Weber St. W., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  Residence	1921	136 Weber St. W., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [2]
  Residence	1921	Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [2]
  	Lutheran
  Residence	1945	72 Brock St., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  Residence	1950	221 Pandora Crescent, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  Residence	1964	4 Westgate Walk, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  Hall of Fame - Waterloo Region	Bef 2012	, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [3]
  Interesting	business, life story, public service
  Name	Carl Merner Doerr
  Eby ID Number	Waterloo-103685
  Died	9 Apr 2014	Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [1]
  Buried	Parkview Cemetery, Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  Person ID	I103685	Generations
  Last Modified	28 Jan 2025

  
  

  Father	Webourne Oswell Doerr,   b. 24 Sep 1890, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 9 Oct 1918, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 28 years)
  Mother	Irene Merner,   b. 12 Jan 1890, Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 7 Oct 1918, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 28 years)
  Family ID	F43086	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Ruth Eleanor Rotters,   b. 28 Sep 1918, Moose Jaw, , Saskatchewan, Canada ,   d. 28 Nov 2003, Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 85 years)
  Children	1. Carolyn Dare   2. Graham Dare   3. Bryan Dare
  Last Modified	29 Jan 2025
  Family ID	F43103	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Photos

  Carl Merner Dare

  
  

• Notes

  Carl Dare built a lasting Canadian food company KITCHENER A man of boundless optimism whose life began in tragedy but who rose to build a Canadian food industry success story, Carl Merner Dare died Wednesday at the age of 96. Dare is credited with saving and modernizing Dare Foods Ltd., a cookie and snack foods business he inherited from his grandfather, Charles Henry Doerr, who founded the company in 1892. The struggling business burned to the ground in 1943, when it was the C.H. Doerr Co. on Weber and Breithaupt Streets in Kitchener. But Carl Dare (whose family name changed from Doerr to Dare to make it easier to pronounce) rebuilt and led Dare Foods for decades. It became one of the few sizeable Canadian food companies to survive the massive consolidation of the North American food industry..... Waterloo Region Record 11 Apr 2014 ______________________ 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. Waterloo Region Record 12 Apr 2014 ______________________ Succumbs to Pneumonia on Day of Wife's Funeral; Infant Child Survives. Double Bereavement With the sad death of Mr. Webourne Oswell Doerr, on Wednesday evening, following the passing of his wife, whose remains were laid to rest on Wednesday, there has come a double bereavement to this home, the only member of the family remaining being their fourteen months old son. Both young people were victims of the Spanish influenza. A week ago Sunday Mr. Doerr took ill, but despite the most tender nursing and care he succumbed on Wednesday evening at 6 o'clock to pneumonia. The late Mr. Doerr was the only child of Mr. and Mrs. C. H. Doerr and was born in this city 28 years ago. He received his schooling in Kitchener, including a business course at the business college, after which he was identified with his brother in the wholesale confectionary business. After traveling for a number of years he became assistant manager of the company, which position he had held for the past five years. About two years ago he was married to Miss Merner of Waterloo, who predeceased him only a few days. He leaves his parents and an infant son aged 14 months. The funeral will take place on Saturday afternoon at 2.30 o'clock from the residence of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. C. H. Doerr, 236 Weber St. West, to Mount Hope cemetery for internment. The late Mr. and Mrs. Doerr were highly esteemed by their hosts of friends, by whom their passing will be deeply mourned. The heartfelt sympathy of a wide acquaintanceship will be extended to the grief stricken parents in the double bereavement which has been experienced. Berlin Daily Telegraph, October 10, 1918

  
  

• Sources

  [S602] News - ON, Waterloo, Kitchener - The Waterloo Region Record (March 2008- ), Obituay of Carl Merner Dare - 12 Apr 2014. [S2264] Census - ON, Waterloo, Kitchener - 1921, Sub Dist 22 Page 7. [S220] Waterloo Region Hall of Fame Waterloo Region Hall of Fame.

  
  

• Event Map

  Born - 27 Jul 1917 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Residence - 1920 - 135 Weber St. W., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Residence - 1921 - 136 Weber St. W., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Residence - Lutheran - 1921 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Residence - 1945 - 72 Brock St., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Residence - 1950 - 221 Pandora Crescent, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Residence - 1964 - 4 Westgate Walk, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Hall of Fame - Waterloo Region - Bef 2012 - , Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Died - 9 Apr 2014 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Buried - - Parkview Cemetery, Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  = Link to Google Earth