One of the faces of philanthropy in Chester County has died.

Highland Township’s Robert McNeil, who founded the Chester County Food Bank in 2009 and whose impact extends well beyond the four million pounds of food that the CCFB annually distributes, died on April 13 at the age of 74 after a decade-long bout with cancer.

McNeil owned Penguin Industries — the holding company for nine operating companies, including Frank A. Hoppe’s Co., Ott Packaging, Zeks Air Drier Corp., and Load Rite Trailers — and a real-estate portfolio with investments across multiple asset classes. He generously donated his time, resources, and expertise to several local nonprofits, including the Food Bank, Brandywine Health Foundation (now The Alliance for Health Equity), Chester County Boy Scouts, Community Volunteers in Medicine, Bridge of Hope, and Handi-Crafters, among others.

A fearless fundraiser, McNeil was instrumental in the effort to build the Food Bank’s current 36,000-square-foot warehouse in Exton, a far cry from the two-car garage where it started.

“Bob was more than our founding chairman; he was an innovative leader whose passion for serving the community ignited the flame that would become the Chester County Food Bank,” said Andrea Youndt, the Food Bank’s CEO. “Bob’s visionary journey, along with founding board members Betty Moran and Ruthie Kranz-Carl, to create a food-secure Chester County has been one of resilience and adaptation, reflecting a story of innovation, unity, and collaboration. The CCFB team, Board of Directors, and I are honored to be a part of Bob’s legacy.”

Born in 1950 into a family that lived on a farm in Plymouth Meeting and valued community service, McNeil’s journey into philanthropy was influenced by his father, Henry McNeil, and his uncle, Robert McNeil Jr. They were the pharmaceutical executives who directed the development of Tylenol in 1955 as a competitor to aspirin for pain relief. This upbringing instilled in McNeil a profound commitment to community that defined his life’s work.

McNeil graduated from Germantown Academy and the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, and completed some graduate-level coursework at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

According to Chadds Ford Live, McNeill “had a knack for recognizing the potential of small, struggling companies … and purchased a succession of companies in need of first aid, nurturing them until they became attractive acquisitions for larger businesses.”

“I could look at a small company, see its value, and know that — down the road — larger companies would find the smaller companies appealing for acquisition,” he told VISTA Today in 2016. “I ended up selling one of those companies to Brunswick, another to Ingersoll-Rand.”

Early in his career, McNeil lived in Blue Bell, but as that area developed, he lost the privacy he so cherished.

“My office was in Chester County, and I liked Chester County’s open space; it was what Plymouth Meeting was 60 years ago,” he said, and so he bought a 150-acre farm south of Coatesville that is under conservancy and can never be developed.

For years, McNeil and his wife Jennifer hosted the annual Garden Party — which kicked off the Strawberry Festival each spring and raised more than $1 million in support of the Brandywine Health Foundation and the greater Coatesville community — at their home, Springbank Farm.

In an affluent county, where philanthropy is encoded in the cultural DNA, McNeil stood out for his devotion to several causes. However, he avoided the spotlight that naturally followed him and his largesse.

“There is no ego in Bob McNeil,” Ted Beringer, a business associate, told Chadds Ford Live in 2016. “What he has done for the community is immeasurable.”

A celebration of life will be held at 11 AM on Saturday, April 27 at Springbank Farm, located at 301 Five Point Road in Coatesville. In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of McNeil can be made to the Chester County Food Bank.