Steve Bernard, founder of Cape Cod Potato Chips, dies

When Steve Bernard, founder of Cape Cod Potato Chips, learned that he had cancer, he lamented just one missed opportunity in his life. "The only thing that he was upset about was wanting to take his grandsons fly-fishing in Montana,"said his daughter, Nicole Dawes.

Beyond that, he told her, "I have no regrets — I've lived my life exactly the way I wanted to,"she said.

Bernard, of Marstons Mills, died Saturday at the age of 61.

Bernard is perhaps best known on the Cape as the founder of Cape Cod Potato Chips, a company he launched with his brother Jude in 1980, despite extremely limited experience in potato chip production.

Though the business struggled to stay afloat in its first year, the chips proved popular and the company was soon expanding its distribution.

In 1985, Anheuser-Busch bought Cape Cod Potato Chips. Just a year later, when the beverage giant decided to shut down its snack food operations, Bernard and a group of partners reacquired the company.

Then, in 1999, Bernard again sold Cape Cod Potato Chips, this time to national snack company Lance Inc.

For years, each bag of Cape Cod Potato Chips carried Bernard's signature, as well as an invitation to tour the company's Hyannis plant.