Potato flakes creator Miles Willard dies

IDAHO FALLS — Miles Willard, the inventor of dehydrated potato flakes and a philanthropist of the arts, died Friday. He was 80.

Willard had suffered from Alzheimer’s disease for several years.

He came to Idaho Falls in 1955 to work for Rogers Bros. Co., which was interested in the dehydrated potato flakes he had first developed in a U.S. Department of Agriculture laboratory.

He went on to start his own company, developing patents for snack foods from dehydrated potatoes including Hula Hoops, popular in Britain, and ‘Boises and Potato Skins in the United States.

Willard also served nine years on the Idaho Arts Commission.