Allen Ross began his career in the meat industry at Hygrade Foods, a family-owned business built by his grandfather Samuel Slotkin in 1914. They sold every kind of meat, but their loyalty remained with the hot dog. Hygrade became the exclusive supplier for Detroit Tiger Stadium and famous around the country with Ball Park Franks. Anyone even near my age remembers that “they plump when you cook them!”

Allen’s grandfather put the butchers in suits and ties, took out the sawdust, put in carpet. Allen said, “I found it to be encouraging that one could and can be so innovative and receptive to new ideas. I try to welcome change and constantly move forward."

I met Allen when I was a kid and he worked with my father, Harry Strauss, who was a senior executive at Hygrade. When Hygrade was sold in 1969, it was the fifth-largest meatpacker in the world.

Allen was an expert in the sausage business and a lifelong advocate for natural sausage casings. After Hygrade, Allen went into business with his brother, Martin Henry Ross, creating Pops Packing and Great Lakes Steak. Pops was a hot dog business. I lived with Allen during one of my high school summers, working at two Detroit area harvest plants and beginning my work in the meat business. When he woke me up at 3:45am on Day One … well, you can imagine.

In the 1980s Allen joined my father in his casing business. We worked together there in an equipment business we started (the U.S. base for AEW meat cutting bandsaws).

Allen later went on to create a casing company called Little Silver, producing natural casings, and later added the supply of processing chemicals to help extract heparin — a critically important anti-coagulant found in pigs and collected as a by-product of producing natural casings. Starting in the 1990s, my father and I began supplying the by-product of the heparin process to pet food and livestock feeding applications and I enjoyed a routine collaboration with Allen; he was on one side of that business and I was on the other side, and we were often able to help one another.

Allen knew everyone, and everyone knew Allen.

Though I am 25 years younger than Allen, it was always hard to keep up with Allen. He loved every part of the business and always called with new thoughts or ideas, or just to see who was doing what. He and I talked about working together in the chemical distribution business, but at only 80 years old he wasn’t ready to slow down. Imagine that! So, we kept in touch and I kept trying to keep up with him, and when he was nearing age 85 he decided it was time and I bought Little Silver from him. But don’t think that meant he slowed down; I’d get calls at 7:30 am or 8:30 pm. He loved it, and so did I.

Allen passed away on April 17 at the age of 88. I know a lot of people who will miss him, but no one who will ever forget him.

A life well-lived

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