Eugene businesswoman Sue Kesey died Wednesday.

She and her husband Chuck opened Springfield Creamery right out of college in 1960, supplying milk for home delivery and schools. As Sue Kesey recalled in an interview with OPB in 2024, the creamery got ahead of growing consumer demand for natural food.

“The young, I guess I’d call ‘em young people, college-age kids... were looking for food that was – what we would call at that time – ‘clean food’, no preservatives and not a lot of extra junk... just basic, clean ingredients,” Kesey told OPB. “And that became kind of our core base of the customers we had.”

In 1970, the couple introduced live probiotics to its yogurt, the first U.S. company to do so. “Nancy’s Yogurt” was a hit, and the creamery expanded. At the same time, the business was helping foster a movement in Oregon.

“Eugene was little food core, a little food haven, and this spread, the whole natural food movement, as we called it at that time, was just burgeoning out,” Kesey recalled. “There was a lot demand for this food, and the grocery stores were slow - were not that nimble at recognizing this or picking this up.”

That created an opening for Springfield Creamery and Nancy’s Yogurt to take off.

Sue and Chuck Kesey were some of the earliest vendors at the Oregon Country Fair near Veneta, opening their Springfield Creamery booth in 1971, just two years after the first fair.

As the business grew, so did expenses that threatened to close the business. Kesey helped orchestrate a Grateful Dead benefit concert in August 1972 to serve as a fundraiser. It took place at the grounds of the Oregon Country Fair.

She recalled the concert at Veneta in an interview with KLCC, 50 years later.

“We’ve always been grateful ... for this kind gesture on their part to do this,” Kesey said. “They did it for their friends. I mean, this was friend-related. I think one of the words they used, well this was for family, we do it for family.”

A press release from the company said Kesey was the backbone of the business, known for steady leadership and unwavering integrity.

Sue Kesey was 86. Springfield Creamery said it will share details of a celebration of her life in the coming weeks.

KLCC’s Tiffany Eckert and OPB’s Eric Slade and Rob Manning contributed to this story.

Karen Richards is a reporter with KLCC. This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.

It is part of OPB’s broader effort to ensure that everyone in our region has access to quality journalism that informs, entertains and enriches their lives. To learn more, visit our journalism partnerships page.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/08/19/springfield-creamery-co-founder-sue-kesey-dies/