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Friends and relatives of Charles “Chuck” Newel Huggins, the noted philanthropist, president and chief executive of See’s Candies, and resident of Menlo Park, say there will be a jazz concert “sometime in the near future” in his honor. Mr. Huggins died Aug. 19 surrounded by his family at his home in Larkspur. He was 87.
Mr. Huggins was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, grew up in Portland, was an active Boy Scout, and voyaged around the world on a steamship with his grandparents at the age of 12, relatives said. As a U.S. Army paratrooper in World War II, he served in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Holland and Germany, and participated in the Battle of the Bulge, relatives said.
He has an undergraduate degree and an honorary doctor of law degree from Kenyon College. He began his 55-year career at See’s after moving to Menlo Park in 1951 with his wife Marian, who preceded him in death.
In 1972, Mr. Huggins played a key role in selling the candy company to the Berkshire Hathaway Company, run by business and investment icons Warren Buffett and Charles Munger. Within minutes of the sale, the company appointed Mr. Huggins president and CEO of See’s, relatives said.
Mr. Huggins had a deep and abiding interest in jazz, sang and played drums himself, and counted several noted jazz artists as friends, relatives said. But his interests extended beyond music — to travel, animals, education, conservation and history, and his philanthropy reflected these interests.
Mr. Huggins is survived by his wife Donna; sister Ruth Slack of Beaverton; sons Peter of Fairfield, Iowa, and Charles of Emerald Hills; daughters Anne Huggins Walton of Portland, and Shelley Huggins Dutton of Portland; and many grandchildren.
The family is asking that gifts in Mr. Huggins’ name be made to charities of the donor’s choice; and also, to honor Mr. Huggins by being “kind to someone every day.”
Chuck Huggins was a true gentleman, beloved by all. I will miss his smiling face and ingratiating manner. He was an enormous contributor to our community on many levels, bringing joy into the lives of many.
Elsie Floriani
I shall greatly miss ‘Chuck’ and all of our musical collaborations “in the trees,” especially his vocal renditions of ‘Louie’ favorites.
Chuck was one of the true good guys in our community. Always there to help any needy cause. He was mensch and will be missed by all.
Heartfelt condolences to his family.
a kind and good man….we will miss him.
As a former member of the Model A’s jazz band, and a happy admirer of my friend Chuck, I know how he infected many of us with his loving spirit, always by showing, seldom advising.
But another side of Chuck’s remains one of my fondest memories.
He so loved the comradeship of music that he and Tom Ford created their own jazz band because they didn’t think any other band would accept their limited capabilities on drums and piano. Entrepreneurs, these two. They sweetened the Model A’s ability to entertain by bringing in a few really good musicians, true, but invited me to join with my profoundly limited capability on, er, the gut bucket. No matter, because comradeship was what was important to Chuck and Tom, even as they rose in the business world from bottom to top.
The joy worked wonders: we played (not flawlessly) on cruise ships, at political and charity fund-raisers, cut our own album (since no one else would), and even did a one-nighter at the famed Bellair Hotel Lounge. At one big party gig, Arthur Fiedler (Boston Pops) asked if he could take a turn on my bucket. I near fainted.
Chuck-and-Tom enriched us with what later appeared to me in a verse by Bengali author Tagore: “The forest would be very sad if only the birds who sang best did.”
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