The Roger and Rosemary Enrico Foundation
THE ROGER AND ROSEMARY ENRICO FOUNDATION. Cola Warrior. Conservationist.
Flunking the colorblindness test in OCS, Roger Enrico volunteered for Vietnam as a Navy enlisted man serving in northern South Vietnam in 1967-68 as a supply officer transporting fuel, under gunfire. "My first experience delivering precious liquids.” Before the Navy, Enrico graduated from Babson College with a B.S. in Business Administration in only three years in 1965.
After the Navy, he worked for General Mills until recruited by Frito Lay, part of PepsiCo. He oversaw PepsiCo's Worldwide Restaurants division, which included Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and Kentucky Fried Chicken. He became CEO of PepsiCo at the age of 38, recruited Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie and Madonna for ads that won the “Cola War” with Coca Cola. He anonymously donated his salary as CEO to fund scholarships for the children of front line workers.
Retired he became Chairman of DreamWorks Animation. Roger Enrico died in the Spring of 2016 in the Caymen Islands where he was vacationing and scuba diving. He also fished and rode horses in Montana.
He served on the boards of the American Film Institute, the American Prairie Reserve, the [George Soros funded] Environmental Defense Fund, KERA, and the National Geographic Society. Rosemary and Roger supported cultural causes such as the Dallas Opera.
The Roger and Rosemary Enrico Foundation supports social services, outreach and education programs for the underprivileged, environmental conservancy and medical research. For example, the Enrico Foundation supported American Prairie Reserve, believing ranching could live side by side with wildlife. They funded a New Enrico Education & Science Center to create a “deeper appreciation for grassland ecosystems and biodiversity.”
Open Secrets shows Roger making over 100 contributions to both Republican and Democrats, but predominantly Republicans. Rosemary’s 30 contributions were entirely Republican.