What an amazing man. I didn't know him or know of him, but his record speaks for itself as a businessman.
BRIDGETON, N.J., Oct. 20—Charles F. Seabrook, whose early experiments with freez*ing fresh vegetables helped to change the eating habits of the nation, died today at his home in nearby Upper Deerfield. His age was 83.
Surviving are his widow, the former Norma Dale Ivins, whom he married in 1905; a daughter, Mrs. Robert Sidur of Maple*wood; 3 sons, Belford, C. Court*ney and John; 14 grandchildren than a seasonal livelihood.
An Agricultural Expert
Charles Franklin Seabrook was a farmer with a dream. When he took over his family's 60 — acre farm near Bridgeton, N.J., he decided to try to expand its produce, over*come its problems and make it a year‐round business, rather thean a seasonal livelihood.
The dream began in 1930, when Mr. Seabrook and his three sons began experimenting with quick‐freezing techniques for fresh vegetables. The begin*ning was crude. They collected some good‐looking lima beans grown on the farm and packed them into a wooden box with dried ice.
Some time later, Mr. Seabrook returned to the box, took out the lima beans and cooked them. They tasted better than he had expected. He was over whelmed at the success of the quick‐freezing techniques, and he realized the marketing pos*sibilities immediately.
Working with Clarence Birdseye, Mr. Seabrook con*tinued to study and experiment with the problem of packing frozen foods. By 1932, they be*gan marketing vegetables in consumer packs under the Birdseye label.
Mr. Seabrook was a farmer at heart as well as in his dreams. When he worked with his father, Albert P. Seabrook, on the family farm in 1912, he took charge of the planting and harvesting. His father handled the sales. By 1920, their farm had increased to 2,000 acres and they were shipping vegetables to commercial mar*kets by the carload.
Put In Artesian Wells
Because of his concern with what his farm looked like and produced, Mr. Seabrook pi*oneered in the development of overhead irrigation. He in*stalled artesian wells to feed the miles of overhead pipe with the water necessary for a por*table irrigation system.
He developed assembly‐line techniques for food processing and growing and was an early advocate of airplane spraying of crops. In addition, he devised a system of floodlights so that crops could be harvested at night.
At its peak, Seabrook Farms comprised 19,000 acres directly owned and crops from 35,000
Mr. Seabrook envisioned the large acreage as a site where displaced persons from other countries could thrive.
During World War II, he brought 2,000 Japanese who had been evacuated from the West Coast to his farmland. Later, he arranged for 3,000 refugees from Europe, primarily from the Baltic states, to come to this country and live on his farm*land.
Yet, there was a period when Mr. Seabrook was discouraged by farming. When the fresh vegetable market grew shaky in 1924, he sold the farm and set up the Seabrook Interna*tional Engineering Corporation, to construct highways.
Built Roads in Russia
For the next five years, Mr. Seabrook built highways in 11 Eastern states and in parts of the Soviet Union. He also built docks at Murmansk on the White Sea, paved streets in Paris and Berlin and surveyed the route of the Volga‐Don canal.
But in 1929 he returned to Bridgeton and bought back the farm from the people to whom he had sold it. During this period he and his three sons concentrated on canning food. Later, however, they paid little attention to anything that could not be quick‐frozen or de*hydrated. Their produce was sold under 150 different labels before they added their own “Seabrook Farms” in 1943.
In 1950, to dramatize his company's importance in the South Jersey financial picture, Mr. Seabrook paid 3,200 em*ployes their wages in 150,000 silver dollars. Merchants in the area keyed sales promotions to “hard money” only, and Mr. Seabrook made his point.
Later, the company ran into hard times and Mr. Seabrook turned over its management to his son, John. Meanwhile, his stock was placed in a voting trust. This led to a bitter family dispute, which was patched up before court action was neces*sary.
In 1959, Seabrook Farms was sold to Seeman Brothers, but Mr. Seabrook retained owner*ship of the farm land.