Gene L. Biggi

Gene L. Biggi of Palm Desert, California and Beaverton, Oregon passed away peacefully at the age of 94 surrounded by loved ones and with his wife of 47 years holding his hand. As a father, husband, son, grandfather and recently, a great-grandfather – Gene lived a life full of wonderful memories and accomplishments which he celebrated up until his final moments. Gene’s incredible journey through life was paved with hard work and pride which he learned early in life from his Mom, Rose Biggi, who immigrated from Italy in the early 1920’s with little to her name but just enough to purchase 15 acres in Beaverton, OR. Rose would soon start Beaverton Foods Horseradish Company to provide for her family and on April 28th, 1928, Gene (Geno) Biggi would be born. Geno loved his Mom and would spend his time between school and football practice helping her on the farm and finding ways to create new products to support the family. As Rose got older, her wisdom remained with Geno as he took the company over. She would always tell him, “God give us health and energy and we will do the rest” and that message can still be found on the walls of Beaverton Foods today. As Geno took over Beaverton Foods, he quickly made a name for himself with his creativity and innovation in the specialty condiment industry. A company that once operated in a small farmhouse basement would soon become an 80,000 square foot, state of the art manufacturing facility with over 100 employees. In the decades since Geno took over, Beaverton Foods has been awarded more gold medals at the National Mustard Championships than any other company combined. He was awarded a coveted James Beard Award for his innovations and inducted into the National Hall of Fame by the Specialty Foods Association. At the time of Geno’s passing, Beaverton Foods’ products can be found in 97% of grocery stores across the Country. His love for the company his Mom once started is immeasurable and at the age of 94, you could still find him at the plant every day working on the next gold medal product. Geno was however, much more than just a businessman. His accomplishments (and those of his Mom) can be seen all throughout the City of Beaverton and notably, at Beaverton High School where he was inducted into the Hall of Fame for his success on the football field. He would later receive a full ride scholarship to play at Portland State. He was an avid golfer with 2 hole-in-ones, loved to ski with his friends, and enjoyed spending time and sharing stories with his many friends and family. Geno brought joy to everyone he met and impacted countless lives throughout his amazing life. He will be missed forever but his legacy will last a lifetime. A Celebration of Life is being planned for his 95th birthday on April 28th. Donations may be made in Geno’s memory to Loving All Animals or any other local non-profit of your choice.