Cause of death Bone cancer Children 5 Nationality American Name Edward Piszek | Occupation Businessman Spouse Olga McFadden Religion Catholic | |
Full Name Edward John Piszczek Born October 24, 1916 ( 1916-10-24 ) Chicago, Illinois Other names The Fishcake KingThe Big FishcakeThe Polish Ben Franklin Died March 17, 2004, Fort Washington, Upper Dublin Township, Pennsylvania, United States Education Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania Books Some Good in the World: A Life of Purpose | ||
Edward John Piszek (24 October 1916 – 27 March 2004) (PEE-zeck) co-founded the Mrs. Paul's frozen foods brand with John Paul, a bread salesman. Piszek bought out his partner in the 1950s.
His family moved from Chicago to a farm near Quakertown, Pennsylvania, and then to Philadelphia, where his father opened a grocery store. He later earned a degree in business administration by attending the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in the evenings.
One of his early jobs was as a salesman for Campbell Soup. He hit upon the idea of selling frozen fish in 1946 when he was on strike from his job at the General Electric plant in Philadelphia.
The company suffered after Piszek bought Arthur Treacher's Fish and Chips in 1979. He sold the business to the Campbell Soup Company in 1982 for close to $70 million.
He wrote a book, "Some Good in the World: A Life of Purpose".
Philanthropy
He gave millions to battle tuberculosis in Poland and started the Copernicus Society of America to honor Polish achievements. He bought the Philadelphia house where Tadeusz Kościuszko, the Polish statesman who aided the American Revolution, once lived, restored it, and donated it to the National Park Service. It is now part of Independence National Historical Park.
His donations to Little League Baseball in Poland made Kutno, Poland, the league's European training center. He befriended Cardinal Karol Wojtyla of Kraków before he became Pope John Paul II.
He was a member of Gore 2000.