Samuel Wylde invented specialty bakery products

Samuel Mayo Wylde, a third-generation miller, combined his knowledge of flour and grain, his interest in medicine and his compassion for people to create a niche business that was known around the world.

Mr. Wylde, who died of cancer on Wednesday ( Aug. 14), was the founder of the first company to make gluten-free breads and protein-free products for patients with special nutritional needs. He was 88.

He had always been interested in medicine and health, said his daughter Colleen Perry, and he was well-known among Rotarians and other Seattle businessmen as the man who knew more about flours and grains than anyone else.

"One day he got a phone call from a doctor who asked my father if he could develop a protein-free bread that could be tolerated by people with kidney disease. He told my father it was the one food they missed more than anything else, so my father started working on it," she said.

"It took a year to develop, but he did it, and when that happened the doctors talked about it."

It wasn't long before Mr. Wylde had a request from another doctor for the development of a gluten-free bread.

After Mr. Wylde devised a rice-based bread, the owner of the Poulsbo Bakery agreed to bake the breads.

"My mom and dad would go over to Poulsbo, pick it up and deliver to the hospital, and that's how my father's company, Ener-G, came about," Perry said.

Ener-G, which remains one of the only companies worldwide to create the special breads and grain products used by people with celiac sprue, autism, phenylketonuria (PKU) and other food-sensitive diseases, was profitable but never a big money-maker.

"He saw a need and he filled it," his daughter said.

The company was the second started by Mr. Wylde, who learned the family business working at Novelty Flour Mill, which was started by his grandfather in the 1800s on Alki at the site of what is now Salty's restaurant.

After the company closed — when it was no longer profitable to grind wheat before shipping it overseas — Mr. Wylde started Sam Wylde Flours, a bakery-flour distributorship.

Although others could beat his costs at times, Mr. Wylde's customers were loyal.

"My father helped people. His drivers rotated the stock and made special deliveries and my father helped a number of people buy their bakeries," Perry said.

Mr. Wylde was born in West Seattle and lived in the family house all his life.

A World War II veteran, he was active in the Rotary Club and liked to brag that he had never missed a meeting. He also was a loyal Husky and member of the University of Washington Tyee Club. For more than 60 years, Mr. Wylde could be found in the stands wearing purple and gold.

In addition to his daughter, Mr. Wylde leaves behind his wife of 54 years, Helen Wylde; his son, Sam Wylde III, of Seattle; daughter Jane White of Ephrata; sister Marjorie Delsman and nine grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to St. John The Baptist Church.

Christine Clarridge: 206-464-8983 or cclarridge@seattletimes.com.