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LAKE WALES, Fla. (AP) — Bob Behr, the new CEO at Florida's Natural Growers, has overachieved, at least in the opinion of his pre-kindergarten teacher.
His mother, Sheila Behr, 85, of Winter Garden, recalled how the teacher asked for a meeting with her and her husband, Norman Behr, about their son's academic progress — or apparent lack thereof.
"She told us he had the capability probably of graduating from high school, but we should not expect anything more than that. She said he did not have the ability to concentrate," Sheila Behr said. "I thought she was nuts. I thought she was absolutely out of her mind."
His father concurred, and history proved the parents right.
Some two decades later, Bob Behr would earn a doctorate in agricultural economics from the University of Florida. He joined Florida's Natural Growers in 1994 and rose through the ranks to become CEO in September, succeeding Steve Caruso, who retired.
The teacher's mistake arose from the fact she mistook Behr's reserved, taciturn personality as some kind of intellectual shortcoming. It's not an uncommon mistake, as even young Albert Einstein's teachers considered him a "dull-witted child" because he was uncommunicative and seemed uninterested in school lessons, except mathematics.
The trait showed up almost immediately in her son's life, Sheila Behr said. When put into a playpen, he was content to sit and observe the world around him.
"I'm not an outgoing person. I'm shy," Bob Behr said. "Sometimes I wonder if it's a personality defect, but there you are. Some people are born shy, and others are outgoing. I accept who I am."
Robert Michael Behr was born on March 11, 1954, in Orlando, the oldest of three children of Norman and Sheila Suberman Behr. Born in subsequent order were a sister, Julie Zimmerman of Winter Park, who is now a financial planner, and a brother, Glenn Behr of Longwood, who is a business broker.
The Behrs are descended from Eastern European Jews who were forced to flee in the late 19th century because of religious persecution, Bob Behr said.
His paternal family grew up in Talladega, Ala., where his grandfather ran a clothing store.
His father grew up learning the retail trade, but he wanted to strike out on his own, Behr said.
By the time of his birth, his father had a successful business, Norman's Shoe Store, in downtown Orlando.
Norman Behr was the major influence in his son's life, genetically and otherwise, said Bob Behr, his mother and his wife, Sarah Behr.
Even Sheila Behr could not cite a trait she passed onto her son.
"He's really like his dad," Sarah Behr said. "He looks like his dad. He acts like his dad. He thinks like his dad."
That includes both men's characteristic reticence, Sheila and Sarah Behr agreed.
One trait he did not acquire, after helping out in the family business through high school, was wanting to own a shoe store, Bob Behr said.
Growing up in his middle-class Orlando neighborhood was not exceptional, Bob Behr said. The only thing that set him apart from his Christian peers was the celebration of different holidays, the Jewish ones, he said.
But Behr could not recall suffering the sting of anti-Semitism, in part because of his reserved personality.
"I don't make a big deal about where I come from and who I am," he said.
And although the Behr family observes many Jewish customs, they've always considered themselves Jewish more by ethnicity than religion, a "secular Jew," mother and son agreed.
"I do identify as a Jewish person," he said. "I'm proud of my Jewish heritage."
Behr said he always performed well in school, but he grew tired of the classroom by the time he graduated from high school and had no clear idea of a career path.
So he joined an uncle's construction firm as a laborer, which had the desired effect of clearing his mind.
"I learned that I wanted to go to school," Behr said.
After two years at the University of Florida, he sought another change and enrolled at the University of Arizona in Tuscon, where he would graduate in 1976 with a bachelor's degree in business. Despite having no background in agriculture, a professor there got him interested in agricultural economics.
So when he got homesick, the University of Florida beckoned. Behr enrolled a year later in a doctoral program at the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, known as IFAS, one of UF's largest programs.
The move would have two major impacts: Behr met his wife, Sarah, who was working as an IFAS secretary, and a longtime friend and business partner, Tom Spreen, who taught one of his first graduate economics classes.
At the time, Spreen was a new faculty member who taught one of Behr's initial graduate courses on consumer demand theory. He remembered Behr as a serious student, unlike the "Peace Corps retreads" in IFAS and other graduate programs.
"You could tell because he would turn his homework in on time," Spreen said.
In addition to developing a personal friendship, Spreen influenced Behr's economics career. After getting his doctorate in 1981, Behr spent his subsequent career studying consumer demand.
Behr subsequently worked at Chase Econometrics in Philadelphia; the Coffee, Sugar and Cocoa Exchange in New York City; and at American Crystal Sugar of Moorhead, Minn., near Fargo, N.D., where the couple lived.
Behr said he enjoyed the job at American Crystal because it combined his interests in agriculture and consumer analysis, but he and his wife, Sarah, both Florida natives, never took a shine to the northern climate.
When the job as chief economist for the Florida Department of Citrus became available, he took it. Based at the UF campus in Gainesville, it allowed him to renew friendships there, particularly with Spreen, and to soak up the sun and cultural life on campus.
Behr's biggest challenge in Gainesville came not professionally but with the birth of his third son, Kevin, who was diagnosed with Angelman syndrome, a severe mental and physical disability similar to, and often misdiagnosed as, cerebral palsy. Despite being wheelchair-bound and with a very low IQ, Kevin Behr and other Angelman children are also characterized by their happy demeanor, smiling frequently.
"When the doctor tells you your son's not going to be normal, it's tough," Behr said.
"You pretty much have to mourn that child," Sarah Behr said. "It's pretty much the death of your dreams."
Once again, however, Behr's stoic personality helped the family through the ordeal, said Spreen, who also has a mentally disabled son.
"I hate to sound like the 'Big Lebowski,' but the fact is you just abide; you just deal with it," Spreen said. "He dealt with it."
Until Kevin's disability forced him into a group home so he could get special care, the Behrs insisted on raising Kevin as part of the family, the parents said.
Bob Behr expressed no regrets or remorse.
"He's independent, and he's happy. He recognizes Mom and Dad when we come," said Behr, smiling. "He's our happy child."
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Information from: The Ledger (Lakeland, Fla.), http://www.theledger.com
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