A man who spent most of his life satisfying local sweet teeth has died.
Bob Hiller ran the Rollin Pin Bakery in Janesville for 41 years, closing the business in 1999.
Hiller died Saturday at age 92. He hadnât baked for nearly a year, family members told The Gazette in February, saying Hillerâs heart problems made it impossible to continue.
Bob and his wife, Sandy, had sold cream puffs and other sweets at fairs for years, and they continued doing that after retirement, according to Gazette records.
Sandy died in 2007. Bob kept on baking. In recent years, he cut back to selling cookies five times a year on the weekends before Christmas, Easter, Halloween, Fourth of July and Valentineâs Day.
JANESVILLE
The Gazette on Friday was named overall Newspaper of the Year by the Wisconsin Newspaper Association for the sixth consecutive year.
It is the top award among all daily newspapers in the state.
The Gazette previously won nine consecutive Newspaper of the Year awards in its circulation category. The Gazette won that award again Friday, too.
The Newspaper of the Year prize was based on 31 news awards and 24 advertising awards received by the newspaper and its staff.
âWe are humbled by this award,â said Orestes Baez, Gazette publisher and regional president of APG Southern Wisconsin Group. âOur congratulations goes out to all the content creators, composers, paginators, production team members, account executives, delivery driversâeveryone who touches or helps our products in any way, this oneâs for you.
JANESVILLE
Years ago, on one of Bob Hillerâs days off, a friend pulled a prank using Hillerâs well-known Rollin Pin Bakery mobile food truck.
In a good-natured ruse, the friend stuck a âNow Openâ sign on the street corner next to the food truck, which was parked outside Hillerâs home on Janesvilleâs east side.
Hiller hadnât made any baked goods, and Rollin Pin was not open for business that day. But the joke fooled so many of Rollin Pinâs fans that within minutes, a queue of about 50 cars had lined up along the street.