Marie Callender

Birth Name:

Maria Alice Sundquist

Birth Date:

March 26, 1907

Birth Place:

Hopkins, Minnesota

Death Date:

November 11, 1995

Place of Death:

Rossmoor Regency nursing home, Laguna Hills, California

Age:

Cause of Death:

Cancer

Cemetery Name:

Cathedral Memorial Gardens

Claim to Fame:

Business and Finance

Marie Callender was an American baker and entrepreneur who became famous for her homemade pies. The legacy of Marie Callender began in the early 1940s in Orange County, California, when Marie, an accomplished baker, first launched her legendary pie business, delivering freshly baked pies to area restaurants. By 1948 with the help of her husband Cal and son Don, they turned this home-based bakery into a bona fide business complete with a wholesale bakery. Within a few years, Marie was making over 200 pies daily and had acquired a truck and a mixer. As her reputation grew, she and her family opened a restaurant in 1964 in Orange County, California, which became the beginning of the Marie Callender’s restaurant chain. Her pies, especially her fruit and cream pies, became the company’s signature products. Through her hard work, baking skills, and dedication to quality, Marie Callender built a successful business that eventually became known across the United States.

The Rest of the Story

Many of our staff here at The Tombstone Tourist remember Marie Callender’s from the late 1960s and it was actually really good food.

But if you ask an MBA why MCs failed with the restaurant chain declining sharply from over 135 locations in 2006 to just about 23 remaining locations today, they would blame the corporate buyouts and debt. After being sold to Ramada in 1986, the brand was later acquired in 2006 by Perkins Restaurant & Bakery. This combined family-dining company accumulated heavy debt and struggled through multiple corporate restructurings. They would also blame the 2008 financial crisis as the Great Recession severely slashed discretionary spending, hitting sit-down family and casual dining chains hard across key markets in California, Nevada, and Florida.

However the real reason Marie Callender’s failed was their food tasted like crap. Before Don Callender sold the chain to Ramada, the menus were developed by the family and the food was actually cooked on site with real chefs in charge. Corporate and chain restaurants often taste bland, overly salty, or artificial because of how they are manufactured and distributed across hundreds of locations. Many major chains do not cook meals from scratch on-site; instead, central commissaries or food plants cook, vacuum-seal, or freeze the food. Kitchen staff typically just reheat, microwave, or assemble pre-made components.

Cemetery Information:

Final Resting Place:

Cathedral Memorial Gardens

12131 Lewis Street

Garden Grove, California, 92840

USA

North America

Map:

Cathedral Memorial Gardens in Garden Grove, California

Grave Location:

Sanctuary of Praise, E2N, B-4

Grave Location Description

If you enter the gardens from the reflecting pools, take the stairs down and turn right. Walk to the end and turn left. Look for the sign that indicates Sanctuary of Praise, open the door and the pie lady Marie Callender is directly in front of you.

Grave Location GPS

33.78845243434, -117.89999934

Photos:

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FAQ's

Marie Callender was born on March 26, 1907.

Marie Callender was born in Hopkins, Minnesota .

Marie Callender died on November 11, 1995.

Marie Callender died in Rossmoor Regency nursing home, Laguna Hills, California.

Marie Callender was 88.

The cause of death was Cancer.

Marie Callender's grave is in Cathedral Memorial Gardens

Videos Featuring Marie Callender:

Marie Callender’s: the Long Beach pie shop that took over the World!

The Rise and Fall of America's Forgotten Pie Empire: Marie Callender's

The History of Marie Callender's Restaurants

Is Marie Callender a real person?

Watch YouTube video titled Gordon Ramsay Vs. Marie Callenders Frozen Chicken Pot Pie - Junk Food Junkies

Marie Callender