Discharged as a test pilot from the Army Air Forces, Robert P. White was torn between becoming a commercial airline pilot and bowing to his relatives’ request to join the family business, White Cap Co., the inventors of vacuum-sealed metal closures for glass food containers.
In the end, a compromise was found that was pleasing to everyone: Mr. White joined the company, and it bought an airplane he flew to its customers’ food packaging plants.
Mr. White, 82, retired president of White Cap and a retired vice president of Continental Can Co., died of cancer Sunday, Dec. 4, in his Northbrook home.
He was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., but moved with his family to Glencoe as a child. His first experience at White Cap Co. came when he worked as a box boy in its packaging department while in high school.
His father, William, who served as president, and two uncles, George and Philip White, founded the company in 1926 in a loft factory in the old Goose Island industrial district. The three discovered that a vacuum could be formed in glass-packed food by distributing steam over it and immediately capping it. The invention extended the shelf life of numerous products, such as baby food, jams, jellies and ketchup.
After his military discharge in 1945, he became a company salesman.
While the company found great success selling millions of caps, its purchase in 1956 by Continental Can gave it a wider profile.
Five years later, Mr. White became a vice president of Continental Can and president of its White Cap division. With his guidance, the division grew to a global enterprise with multiple plants in the U.S. and in 29 other countries through licensing arrangements. He retired in 1983.
“Bob was a good, all-around guy, sociable, very friendly and very good,” said Charles Hayes, retired general manager. “He was very much involved in what was going on. Sales were his forte. He was in sales for a long time and would meet all of our customers one-on-one and did very well.”
Along with the caps, the company also manufactured the machinery that applied them. When a problem arose with the machinery, Mr. White flew the company plane to the site to help solve the problem.
“When Bob got out of the [Air Force], he absolutely loved flying and was going to apply to American Airlines to be a pilot,” said his wife, Marie. “But his uncle said the company needed him because it was growing. As a result, they bought an airplane, and Bob would fly to all these little packaging companies, which he loved.”
She and Mr. White began dating in 1978 and married that same year. He earlier had been divorced from his first wife, Nancy, the mother of his five children.
Mr. White also served as an officer and director on the board of the WP and HB White Foundation, which supports charitable organizations in the Chicago area through education, health and human services.
Besides his wife, he is survived by sons Robert Jr., Terrence and Steven; a daughter, Valerie Rizzoli; a sister, Alice Barr; a brother, Roger; nine grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. Mass was said.
———-
bsherlock@tribune.com
