Johnsonville Foods Founder Dies at 92

[deezelpope]

Posted June 25, 2007

Ralph F. Stayer, the founder of Johnsonville Foods, died early this morning in Naples, Fla. He was 92.

Stayer, along with his wife, Alice, and a partner, Carl Hirsch, bought a retail butcher shop in Johnsonville in 1945 and turned it into an award-winning enterprise.

Stayer’s son, Ralph C. Stayer, took the reins of the business in the 1970s and the company continued to grow, with the elder Stayer’s constant input.

The Sheboygan County-based company now employs 1,300 people and ships its signature bratwurst to markets in 39 countries. The privately held firm does not release sales figures, but claims to be the No. 1 sausage maker in the world.

Look for a complete biography of Ralph F. Stayer and a history of Johnsonville Foods online and in Tuesday's Sheboygan Press

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

June 26, 2007

Original bratwurst recipe still in use today


One Tuesday in 1945, Ralph F. Stayer and Carl Hirsch used their day off from Plankinton Packing Co. in Milwaukee to buy a small retail butcher shop in Johnsonville.


They never went back to work at the packing plant, instead turning their attention to the 50-year-old store.


That little butcher shop has evolved into Johnsonville Foods, a global held company that employs 1,300 people and ships its signature bratwurst to 39 countries from the Sheboygan County village that gives the company its name.

Stayer, whose family has shepherded the business through decades of change, died early Monday morning in Naples, Fla. at the age of 92. Hirsch died in 1957.


At the beginning, Johnsonville's product line included bratwurst, ring bologna, head cheese, blood sausage, liver sausage, braunschweiger, ham, bacon and other items, according to early press reports. In the early days, weekly sales were measured in the hundreds of pounds.


As the business grew, Johnsonville expanded. In 1949, Stayer and Hirsch opened a retail store in the former Stephani's market at 1212 Pennsylvania Ave. in Sheboygan. Eventually, the company ran three retail grocery meat markets in the 1950s and 1960s.


Later, the company dropped its other products to focus on bratwurst, using a recipe Stayer perfected shortly after opening the shop. That recipe is still in use today.


In the 1970s, Johnsonville began distributing its product to grocery outlets throughout Wisconsin.


Stayer's son, Ralph C. Stayer, took over leadership of the company in 1978 and instituted a host of changes to the company's management philosophy.

His efforts to increase employees' emotional investment in the company paid off — according to a report published in Inc. Magazine in 1990, the younger Stayer split off the manufacturing and wholesale functions of the business in 1969, and sales increased from about $1 million to $15 million by 1982.


The privately held company doesn't reveal its current sales figures.

In 1984, Johnsonville acquired Perri Sausage in New Haven, Conn., and Ralph C. Stayer's sister, Launa Stayer, started the company's first direct sales force.


Ralph C. Stayer's emphasis was on employee ownership, with all that it implies. He instituted a bonus structure for employees and made them responsible for solving problems and working creatively together to improve the business.


To document the success of his philosophy, Stayer co-authored a book with James A. Belasco called "Flight of the Buffalo: Soaring to Excellence, Learning to Let Employees Lead."

Johnsonville Foods has been the main sponsor for Sheboygan's fireworks display for many years, and also sponsors Bratwurst Days in August, the city's annual festival.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ralph F. Stayer lived the American dream



Ralph F. Stayer, center, wearing a cap, is surrounded by employees at one of the company's retail stores in 1964.
Submitted photo Johnsonville brats founder dies at 92

By Janet OrtegonSheboygan Press staff



Ralph F. Stayer found his golden opportunity in a trash barrel.

Shortly after he and a partner bought a small butcher shop in Johnsonville in 1945, Stayer noticed that guests at area fundraisers were throwing away their bratwurst half-eaten.

"He thought, 'Wow. Obviously these people don't much care for what they're eating here,'" recalled his son, Ralph C. Stayer on Monday. "'If I could make a great bratwurst, I could build a really good business.' So he set to work to make a really great-tasting bratwurst."

The elder Stayer, founder of Johnsonville Foods, died early Monday morning in Naples, Fla. of complications from diabetes. He was 92.

Stayer is survived by his wife of 69 years, Alice; his two children, Ralph C. Stayer and Launa Stayer-Maloney, and a number of grandchildren.

Stayer and his wife bought the 50-year-old butcher shop not because they wanted to get into the meat business, but because they wanted a piece of the American dream, Ralph C. Stayer said.

"They started with nothing, they believed in the American capitalist system," their son said. "They believed in creating something better for their children, providing an opportunity for me, then afterwards for my sister."

After Stayer had his eureka moment, he worked for months to create the perfect bratwurst recipe. He knew he had found it when a loyal customer, who had always bought 30 pounds of hamburger and 5 pounds of brats for his events, switched to 30 pounds of bratwurst and 5 pounds of hamburger.

"That's when my dad knew he had a great recipe," said Ralph C. Stayer, 64. "It is exactly the recipe we are using to this day on bratwurst. Johnsonville's entire focus, our reason for existence, is uncompromising taste. That was founded on my father's taste buds. He had the most incredible sense of taste and he developed all the early recipes."

Stayer's humble beginnings fostered a rock-solid work ethic, his son said. When the elder Stayer was 11, his father left the family and Ralph started working to help support his mother and five siblings.

He got all the way through school, despite the Great Depression, but one month before he would have graduated from high school he got an opportunity to work in President Roosevelt's Civilian Conservation Corps and dropped out of school.

"He did what he had to do," Ralph C. Stayer said. "He took care of his younger brothers and sister, he did what he had to do, and that's the quality of the man."

Those experiences later led Ralph and Alice Stayer to become philanthropists, taking special interest in causes that benefit children and education. The Boys & Girls Clubs Ralph F. and Alice B. Stayer Center in Sheboygan is named for them, as is Stayer Park in Plymouth.

Ralph C. Stayer said his father's quest for perfection confounded him when the younger Stayer joined the business in the 1970s.

"Quality, quality, quality, quality, quality – he made me crazy with that when I first got into the business," he said. "I didn't see the need for it like he did until several years later.

"He drilled it in pretty good because I certainly make other people crazy these days," Ralph C. Stayer said. "He trained me well. I'm the same way — if it isn't the best thing I've ever eaten, I don't want it."

Even after his son took over the reins of the business, the elder Stayer stayed involved in the workings of Johnsonville.

"I just followed his lead," Ralph C. Stayer said. "He built the products, I figured out how to market them and sell them. He was always involved. I've been obviously running the business for 30 years, but we always talked about things. He would never tell you that he was retired."

He also didn't tell many people that he almost didn't get into the meat industry at all.

Before they ever bought the retail shop in Johnsonville, the Stayers put money down on a florist shop in Milwaukee, where they were living at the time, their son said.

Before they could take over, the owner got a better offer and refunded the Stayers' money, which is when they pursued the perfect bratwurst in Johnsonville.

"I thank God he wasn't a florist because I cannot see myself as a florist," Ralph C. Stayer said, laughing. "They would've been beautiful, those roses, I'll tell you that. They would've been perfect."

Reach Janet Ortegon at 453-5121 or jortegon@sheboygan-press.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Celebrating the Life of Ralph F. Stayer



Posted June 26, 2007

Today we celebrate the life of a true American. A life based on hard work, hope and the promise of a brighter tomorrow. The life is that of Ralph F. Stayer, the founder of Johnsonville Sausage. His life grew through a solid faith in the American dream and today we remember an accomplished man, father and fellow citizen, who as of June 24, 2007 has passed beyond the confines of the flesh and has moved into our hearts and memories.

Ralph F. (RF) Stayer was born on March 15, 1915 to a poor immigrant family living in Eli, Minn. Growing up in Milwaukee, Wis., RF found himself the sole provider as the oldest in a family of six, without a father, at the height of the great depression. Due to his position in the family, RF never graduated high school. Even though he was at the head of his class and had only one month left before graduation RF, a man of great work ethic, sacrificed his high school diploma to take a position with the Civilian Conservation Corps, a program created by Franklin D. Roosevelt as part of the New Deal, connecting unemployed men with massive conservation projects. The strong work ethic and commitment to family that showed itself at such a young age in RF would drive him to make one of the best business decisions of the 20th century.


After meeting and marrying his life long love and partner, Alice Brinkman Stayer in 1938, RF moved his family to a small town in Wisconsin. RF and Alice lived a simple life filled with hope and a strong entrepreneurial attitude. Saving every penny RF made while working at Plankington Packing Company, Alice and RF were able to purchase a small meat market in Johnsonville, Wis. in 1945 with $1,500 left for capital. RF was passionate about the quality of the food he ate and made.


When it came to great tasting meat, RF had a natural born talent. Everything came together one day when a festival changed the course of his life. RF and Alice were attending a local festival when he noticed a considerable number of half eaten brats in the trash. RF realized that if he could develop a great tasting brat, he could set his company apart. Launa Stayer-Maloney, RF's daughter and owner of Johnsonville Sausage, tells a story of how a loyal customer's behavior changed after RF created his brat.


Based on the overwhelming response to their brats, Ralph and Alice decided to turn their neighborhood butcher shop into a sausage company. As the years passed, Johnsonville began to move toward the company we know today. But even as RF and Alice's situation changed, RF remained focused on the quality of taste.


In fact, RC and Launa were not the only ones to see the emphasis RF placed on taste. He was meticulous about the sausage made at Johnsonville.


An active member of Johnsonville until the day he passed, RF is responsible for creating many of the recipes still used by Johnsonville Sausage today, but RF's passions extended beyond sausage. Family was everything to RF. Being a provider from an early age, that instinct carried through in the way he took care of his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. A father of two, Ralph C and Launa, his family grew to include twenty-seven direct descendants. RF insisted on spending his free time fishing with the grandchildren, hunting with his son, or golfing with his wife and daughter.

Everything RF did, he did well. At the age of 70, he became the club golf champion at the Naples Country Club in Naples, Fla.; an accomplished golfer with four holes-in-one to his name. He traveled around the world as an avid outdoorsman in search of beautiful game and like all other fisherman RF had many a great fish tale to tell.


To RF, family extended beyond his immediate family to include the less fortunate who lived within his community. Known as an extremely generous philanthropist, RF did anything for kids in need, whatever it took to inspire children of a new generation to have faith in the American dream. Today, there are many physical examples of RF's charity including: The Ralph F. and Alice Stayer Boys & Girls Club in Sheboygan, Wis. and The Stayer Park in Plymouth, Wis. A strong religious man, RF continued his charitable efforts through the Knights of Columbus, holding the ranking of a Fourth Degree Knight, which is the highest ranking a Knight can achieve.


RF is survived by his wife, Alice, Naples, FL; his children, Launa and Paul Stayer-Maloney, Sheboygan, and Ralph and Shelly Stayer, Fond du Lac; ten grandchildren, Julie and Alex Palomares, Sheboygan Falls, Jennifer and Sam Shaus, Maryland, Jill and Anthony Bonnett, Sheboygan, Michael and Nichole Suprick, Sheboygan, Ralph Stayer, Milwaukee, Laura Stayer, Sheboygan Falls, Patrick and Jennifer Stayer, New York City, Jonathan Wagner, Brittany Wagner, and Brooke Stayer-Wagner, all of Fond du Lac; eleven great grandchildren, Amelia, David, and Amanda Palomares, Nicholas DeRidder, Christopher and William Bonnett, Rex and Harry Suprick, Ralph Loki Stayer, and Owen and Ethan Stayer; three brothers, John and Donna Stayer, Raymond Stayer, and Robert and Henrietta Stayer; in laws, Dorothy Brinkman, Ruth Wollenschlager, and Rita and Sam Crom; numerous nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.


He was preceded in death by his sister, Margaret Rechelli, and his brother, Bernard Stayer.


A Mass of Christian Burial will take place at 12:00 p.m. noon, Saturday, June 30, 2007, at Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church, 8th and Huron. The Rev. James E. Connell, pastor of Holy Name will officiate. Family and friends are welcome at the church on Saturday from 9:00 a.m. until the time of Mass. Entombment will take place in the Gardens of Peace Mausoleum.


In lieu of flowers, memorial may be made to the Boys and Girls Club of Sheboygan County Foundation, c/o N5531 Cty Rd S, Plymouth, WI 53073 or Lake Country Academy. Condolences may be emailed to the family at ralphstayer@lippertfuneralhome.com.


The definition of success, RF Stayer proved that the American dream is real and not just a story told to encourage enterprise. His keen eye for opportunity, paired with a strong work ethic and dedication to his craft, grew RF from a poor boy to an accomplished man. A man not only defined by his accomplishments, but also by those he loved and those he helped. As we say goodbye to our friend, Ralph F. Stayer, we find comfort that we can continue to savor the efforts of his life through the variety of footprints he left on the world or just in one simple, delicious bite of a Johnsonville Brat.


The Sheboygan Press
June 26, 2007