Alonzo “Lon” T. Adams, creator of the recipe of the Slim Jim meat stick, has died from COVID-19 complications at an assisted living facility in Raleigh, N.C. He died on November 28 at the age of 95, according to the News & Observer.

Adams was a World War II veteran and, prior to contracting the virus, led an active life and was a regular bowler.

“For someone to have been so healthy before the pandemic, and then just that rapidly be diagnosed and passing away, it was pretty shocking,” said his grandson, Andrew Adams.

Lon Adams was a food scientist. He survived being shot in World War II and, after his recuperation, got his master’s degree from Iowa State University. He worked for Goodmark Foods, the company that manufactured Slim Jims until the brand was acquired by ConAgra Foods in the 1990s. The Slim Jim product has been around since 1928, according to the News & Observer, but the formulation that remains in use is Adams’.

For more information: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/coronavirus/article247532605.html

Source: News & Observer, Slim Jim