Joe Barksdale, the iconic Iowa State Fair 'Cookie Man,' dies at 95
The beloved founder of an Iowa State Fair chocolate chip cookie empire, Joe Barksdale, has died at age 95.
He passed away Wednesday at Taylor House Hospice, according to his obituary. Services are scheduled for noon Nov. 28 at Hamilton’s Funeral Home near Highland Memory Gardens, 121 N.W. 60th Ave. in Des Moines, with visitation beginning at 10 a.m.
Barksdale became a staple of Iowa culture through selling his signature buckets of chocolate chip cookies at the fair, a venture he first started in 1993 with nothing but his family recipe.
Through his tenacity and determination, Barksdale transformed the typical definition of fair food, making cookies the fair's iconic treat.
After more than 40 years of working as a concessionaire, Barksdale stepped away from the business in 2019, turning it and his secret recipe over to the people of Iowa. The fair now operates the business, keeping the Barksdale name, and has expanded production.
Barksdale's "smile, kindness and heart will be missed," said a message posted on the Iowa State Fair's Facebook page.
Campbell's Concessions, another fairground staple, also took to social media to honor the life of "the Cookie Man."
"He was a wealth of knowledge and a great operator on the grounds. His company and its products are one of the reasons people come back to the Iowa State Fair every year. Joe lived a great, big life and we will forever be grateful for the knowledge and advice he gave us over the years," said a posting on the company's Facebook page.
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Alabama man makes the Iowa State Fair home
Born in Anniston, Alabama, Barksdale grew up nibbling on his paternal grandmother's delicious, homemade chocolate chip cookies. When the recipe passed down to him, he shared it with his wife, Virginia, who baked them for fundraisers and family gatherings.
The Barksdales moved to Ohio, where he was a salesman for Alsco of Iowa, a window company, then to Iowa in 1958 so he could take a management job with the firm.
Working his way up to general manager, Barksdale restructured the company, testing new sales strategies, regionalizing the business and wrestling its finances from the red to the black. By the time he retired 33 years later, the company was netting annual sales eclipsing $100 million, he said in a 2020 interview with the Des Moines Register.
Virginia Barksdale, a nurse, would take summers off to stay home with their children. And, like so many other Iowa mothers, when August came around, she’d pack up the family and head to the fair.
In 1976, the Barksdales' daughter Kathy decided to start a food stand on the grounds. Her parents helped, and the family became hot roast beef and barbecue concessionaires.
When Joe Barksdale retired from the window business in 1985, he took over the stand and ran it with the same determination he had shown at Alsco. Over the years, Barksdale tried new items and bought and sold stands. He owned a lamb burger joint before giving it to the Lamb Association and started an ice cream operation in the fair's Varied Industries Building. In 1993, he sold his cookies at the fair for the first time, and the rest is history.
More:Photos: Iowa State Fair's famous Barksdale cookies
Barksdale's legacy lives on through his cookies
In 2019, when Barksdale decided to give his business to the fair, he estimated it could have been sold for millions of dollars. But the business was never about money for Barksdale ― it was about leaving behind his legacy and giving back to the people and places that had given to him.
His legacy at the fair lives on not only through the deliciously gooey cookies, but also through the building on the fairgrounds adorned with his name, which he described as a "dream come true" when it opened in 2020.
The Iowa State Fair is currently selling Barksdale's famous cookie dough for the holiday season. Orders can be placed online until midnight Nov. 27 at iowastatefair.org under the "Food" tab.
Cookies weren't Barksdale's only passion. He also loved to hunt and fish, and won national awards for his training of hunting dogs.
Barksdale was preceded in death by his wife in 2022 and by son Bruce in 2004. He is survived by his daughter.
Register Iowa columnist Courtney Crowder contributed reporting.
Francesca Block is a breaking news reporter at the Des Moines Register. Reach her at FBlock@registermedia.com or on Twitter at @francescablock3.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Founder of Barksdale Cookies, Iowa State Fair staple, dies at 95
