Frozen French Fry Baron Dead At 76

Harrison McCain, co-founder of one of the world's largest frozen food companies and known as king of the frozen french fry, died Friday in a Boston hospital after a long period of failing health. He was 76.

McCain made his home in Florenceville, New Brunswick, a sleepy farming community that he and his younger brother, Wallace, transformed into the command center for McCain Foods Ltd., which produces one-third of the world's frozen french fries.

His Florenceville office confirmed his death Friday. Friends said he died as a result of kidney failure.

When Harrison and Wallace started the company in 1956, nobody — except possibly the two ambitious brothers — imagined it would grow to employ more than 13,000 people in dozens of processing plants on four continents, with annual sales of at least $4.5 billion.

Pugnacious and tough, some regarded Harrison McCain as a brash and unpleasant egomaniac. Others saw him as a true captain of industry, a no-nonsense business genius who commanded respect around the world.

A bitter succession feud in the mid-1990s between the two brothers boiled over into the courts, costing $15 million in legal fees and assorted expenses. Wallace was ousted from his job in 1994.

The two never reconciled. Harrison carried his grudge against his brother, and his brother's family, to his death bed.

Wallace and his family still own about a third of the shares of McCain Foods.

Harrison named his nephew, Allison McCain, son of his late brother Andrew, as his successor in 2002.

Harrison's wife, Marion, died in 1995 after a battle with cancer.

His son, Peter, the president of McCain Foods International, died in 1997 aged 39 after crashing his snowmobile during a late-night outing on the family air strip in Florenceville.

Harrison McCain is survived by four children, Mark, Ann, Laura and Gillian, and several grandchildren.