Sad news came in to BevNET Tuesday afternoon when we learned that Jack Shanker, the grandfather of current Canada Dry Bottling Co. of Lansing, Mich. owner Randy Shanker, had passed away at 94.
Jack Shanker went to work for his father, the founder of the company, when he was just 15, and helped build an independent bottling company that has lasted for 75 years and is currently under its fourth generation of family ownership.
According to Randy Shanker, “He was an amazing man, and extra special to me. Started our business (he was 15 and still in High School,) with his Father Louis, in 1933. Bottled, distributed, had his own brand, and then some…. We should all be so blessed.”
Jack Shanker worked at the family company from its founding in 1933 until he retired in 1986, with a brief break to serve on the front lines of WWII. The company history offers a broad and interesting look into the ongoing story of a local, family-owned bottling operation.