Augustus Barber | Food-firm founder, 87

Augustus "Gus" Barber, 87, a former meat cutter who built a frozen-food business that provided jobs to thousands of immigrants, died Friday in Portland, Maine.

The founder of Barber Foods was the son of immigrants who fled Ottoman rule.

Mr. Barber grew his business from a kitchen-based operation to a company with a workforce of 800. He began by offering cut-up chicken parts and later shifted to stuffed-chicken entrees.

More than 40 percent of the company's employees are immigrants, many of whom take English courses on site, his family said. More than 50 languages are spoken at Barber Foods, according to the company's Web site.

- AP