Who is Donald Tober's wife Barbara? How Sugar Foods CEO left wife of 48 years behind after jumping from building
The death of artificial sweetener magnate and Sugar Foods CEO Donald Tober came as a shock when news broke that he killed himself by suicide by jumping from his Park Avenue apartment building, at 5 am on Friday. His body was found in the courtyard of the luxury Upper East Side building between 65th and 66th streets. Tober had been suffering from Parkinson's disease.
Tober, who was responsible for turning Sweet'N Low into a household name was the chairman and co-owner of Sugar Foods, the product's parent company. The company was founded by Tober's father Harry in 1948. Tober, after graduating from Harvard Law School, joined the company in the 1970s - and was responsible for turning it into a multi-million dollar business. He is survived by his wife, Barbara Tober.
Barbara, who is a big name in the world of media and art herself, has had an interesting career over the years. Here's what we know about the late Donald Tober's wife.
The couple wed in 1973
Born on 19th August 1934, Barbara married Donald in 1973. She was 39 at the time. The couple has been married for 48 years. She is currently 86 years old and has had a prolific advertising and publishing career.
Barbara attended the Traphagen School of Fashion in 1954. She was also a student at the Fashion Institute Technology 1956 and studied interior design at the New York School Interior Design in 1964. Fashion and design is something that she had always been passionate about and it led to her career in said fields. While Tober was a Food and Beverage magnate, Barbara went on to make quite a name for herself in the world of advertising and publishing, seeing that she spent nearly four decades in the industry.
She was the Copy editor of Vogue Pattern Book from 1958 to 1960. She then went on to become the beauty editor of Vogue magazine in 1961. She also held the title of Director of women's services Bartell Media Corporation, from 1961 to 1966. For the majority of her career, she was Editor-in-Chief of BRIDES Magazine. She held that position for nearly 30 years. Concerning her roles at BRIDES Magazine, Tober mentioned in an interview with The Bridal Council that one of the highlights of her career was seeing change happen before her.
"The pleasure of seeing the innovations and fun that people were having in the joy they shared, as opposed to being all nervous. I know that people are still nervous at weddings, but it’s not the same as when everyone was afraid of this, afraid of that, worried that nobody would like the place and nobody would like the seating." That is what she said when asked about the high point of the career.
Barbara authored a book
Having played an active role in the wedding industry, Tober used her 3 decades' worth of experience and authored a book called ' The Bride: A Celebration'. As per the synopsis, the book is "Fascinating lore as well as useful facts about courtship, engagements, weddings, and honeymoons." Over the years, Tober's work in the wedding industry has helped brides plan and perfect their dream day.
She's a patron of the arts
The couple was great patrons of the arts. Apart from her media career, she also served for as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City, for 15 years. Currently, she serves as Chairman Emerita. and is on the Museum’s International Council. Apart from this, she is also President of Acronym, Inc., a firm that invests in art-related projects. Tober has always been passionate about design: "I’m International Chair of the museum and also Chair of the Education Committee. I care about craftsmanship and I care about design and I don't care about dots or squiggles on canvases. I care about the eternal verities of craftsmanship." This is what she said when asked about her role in the arts, in the same interview as mentioned before.
If you are in crisis or you think you may have an emergency, call your doctor or 911 immediately. If you're having suicidal thoughts, call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) to talk to a skilled, trained counselor at a crisis center in your area at any time (National Suicide Prevention Lifeline). If you are located outside the United States, call your local emergency line immediately.