America loves chicken, and Foster Farms has been there to put one in every pot since 1939. Foster was a senior vice president and co-owner of the chicken farm founded by his father. He became chief executive after his older brother Paul died of a heart attack in 1977.
After more than a decade in the top seat, he scaled back his involvement to devote more time to outside interests, especially in auto racing. Foster started Tracer Racing, which designs and races sports cars, and drove to victory in more than 200 races. Meanwhile, Foster Farms has grown to a billion-dollar company, ranking 207th on Forbes magazine’s list of the U.S.’s Top 500 privately held companies. He died September 22 from complications of diabetes. He was 49.