James Senders

Class of 2002

Born April 7, 1915, in Portland, OR, Jim attended Lincoln High School and earned a BA in Economics and Social Studies from Stanford University, while participating on the football and baseball teams. He served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, serving during World War II. He spent the balance of the war working in caves behind Pearl Harbor as one of the duty officers monitoring secured communications for the Pacific Fleet.

After a stint as a salesman in the late 1930s, Jim joined his brother Bill as a partner in Lang-Senders & Co. in 1938. He worked in various capacities there until his retirement in 1997. At the time of his induction, he continued to serve the industry as a consultant to Kahler-Senders Group Inc.

He married Janice Katherine Getz and together they raised two daughters.

Jim stresses integrity toward customers and principals as the biggest factor in his success. His most memorable career moment was persuading a potato chip manufacturer to box 40,000 pounds of wrapped candy for a client’s Christmas gift to his customers.

Taking stock of his 60 years in the candy business, Jim says: “There are many fewer wholesale customers, more chain outlets and fewer independent retailers. The supermarkets are, for the most part, either owned or affiliated with a wholesale grocer, so not many sales to them are available to independents.”

Jim passed away on September 19, 2012 at the age of 97.