Updated:
October 6, 2006
ission
Inn founder Frank A. Miller
was affectionately known as
the “Master of the Inn.” That
role is now the responsibility
of Duane R. Roberts. Mr.
Roberts, who purchased the
hotel in December of 1992,
is considered the “Keeper
of the Inn.” Common
to both men is/was creativity
and a drive to succeed.
Duane
Roberts was born in Riverside,
attended Bryant Elementary School
and graduated from Poly High
School. While
still a teenager and working
at Butcher Boy Food Products,
a company founded by his father,
Duane Roberts realized that
fast food would become central
to the American diet. He
formulated and introduced the
first commercially available
frozen burrito. Prior
to selling the company in 1980,
the company was producing over
one million burritos in a day.
Mr.
Roberts went on to create another
food company named Fernando’s
Food Corporation that became
the second largest foodservice
manufacturer of frozen Mexican
food in the United States. He
then branched out to other interests,
including real estate, home
building, and financial investments,
as well as continuing to own
food-manufacturing companies
in the United Kingdom.
In
1992, without the benefit of previous
hotel experience, Mr. Roberts
purchased the National Historic
Landmark Mission Inn. The
doors of the hotel reopened after
a seven-year period of closure.
A gala opening ceremony was held
in May of 1993. Former
President Ronald Reagan and his
wife, Nancy, served as the honorary
co-chairmen of the event. Today
the hotel is a community and financial
success. Once
again the Mission Inn is a viable
and essential part of Riverside’s
downtown thanks to Mr. Roberts’s
efforts.
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