CELEBRITY
Pop-Tarts Inventor William ‘Bill’ Post Dead At 96
Family of Bill Post
William Bill Post, credited with inventing the Pop-Tart, died Saturday at the age of 96, his family announced.
Post was born in Grand Rapids, Mich., to Dutch immigrants, and got a part-time job in high school washing trucks at Hekman Biscuit Company. He returned to Hekman, which later became the Keebler Company, after serving in the Army Air Corps in occupied Japan during World War II, and eventually rose to senior vice president.
While working as a plant manager in the 1960s, he was approached by Kellogg’s executives who asked whether Keebler could create a product they had in mind. That product became the Pop-Tart.
Despite being credited with its invention, Post has always described it as a team effort.
“Bill would say, I assembled an amazing team that developed Kelloggs concept of a shelf-stable toaster pastry into a fine product that we could bring to market in the span of just four months, his obituary reads.
Collaboration between Kellogg’s and Keebler continued until Kellogg’s finally acquired Keebler.
Post retired from the Keebler Company at age 56, and moved to Glen Arbor, Mich., but he could not turn down Kellogg’s request to be their consultant and enjoyed that position for the next 20 years, according to his obituary. In 2003, Post and his wife, high school sweetheart Florence, returned to Grand Rapids to be near their family. They were married for 72 years before she died in 2020.
“Over the years, Bill has been interviewed by newspaper reporters (including the New York Times), TV reporters (History Channel, CBS, etc.), and by radio hosts in this country and abroad,” his obituary says. “He was asked to tell the Pop Tart story to young people in countless classrooms and always enjoyed accommodating those requests, giving his testimony of Gods goodness to the son of an immigrant, and bringing some of his unending supply of Pop Tarts with him.”
“Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story” is set to be released on Netflix in May, telling Post’s story of the creation of the Pop-Tart. The movie is written and directed by Jerry Seinfeld, who also has a starring role.
In spite of an extraordinary life and legendary accomplishments, Bill remained a humble man of God with a servants heart that seemed to overflow with generosity, his obituary says. He was the first to bring comfort, read scripture and offer a prayer with any friend or family member in need. He continued to fill that role to the very end of his life and leaves a big void in a very large circle of treasured friends.
Post is survived by his two children and their spouses, Dan and Jackie Post and Rachel and John DeYoung, along with grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
TMX contributed to this article.
