Retired bakery chief William Entenmann III dies

William Entenmann III, grandson of the founder of Entenmann's bakery, died of cancer Saturday at Southside Hospital in Bay Shore. He was 79.

An avid fisherman and racehorse enthusiast, Entenmann loved working at Entenmann's and was devoted to his family, said his daughter, Jaime Padden of Islip.

"Everyone that I've talked to said, 'He was like a father to me -- I'm going to miss him as much as you are, Jaime,' " she said.

Entenmann was born in Bay Shore on Dec. 17, 1931, the youngest of three brothers. As teenagers, the boys drove company trucks and worked for the family business. All three went on to lead the company.

Entenmann graduated from Bay Shore High School and served in the U.S. Marines. He married Christine Sutton of Great River in 1953.

At Entenmann's he worked in product research and development and served as president. He iced cupcakes and could rattle off the ingredients of any fresh-baked chocolate chip cookie by taste. "He loved that bakery like a child," Padden said.

The bakery, founded in Brooklyn in 1898 by German immigrant William Entenmann, later moved to Bay Shore and became a fixture in the community. Sold in 1978, it has changed owners several times and is now owned by Bimbo Bakeries USA.

SEE PHOTOSNotable deaths: Long Islanders we recently lost

Entenmann III retired from the bakery in the late 1990s.

Owner of a "big, beautiful boat in Florida," Entenmann enjoyed fishing there and in the Bahamas, Padden said. "He was always on the water, he was always on the Great South Bay and over at Fire Island. That was a big part of his life, the outdoors."

His other passion was horses, she said. Stallion Artie Schiller won the Breeders' Cup Mile in 2005 for Entenmann's Timber Bay Farm.

In addition to Padden, he is survived by his wife, of Islip, brothers Charles Entenmann of Key Largo, Fla., and Robert Entenmann of Jamesport; another daughter, Denise Walsh of Southern Pines, N.C.; a son, William of Elkton, Md.; and two grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers the family requests that memorial donations be made to Hospice of South Shore, 14 Shore Lane, Bay Shore, NY 11706.