In 1959 Jack Gartner founded what has become known as Portland's premier retail meat company.  Jack was born and raised in Portland and graduated from Jefferson High School.  Jack served his country in the US Navy from 1944 to 1948 and then settled in The Dalles where he lived for the next eight years.  During this time he worked as the head meat cutter at the Easthill Food Center and the Hilltop Market.  He later moved to Odell Oregon and purchased a small grocery store, but Jack's heart was still in Portland, and in 1959 he moved back and opened up Gartner's Country Meat Market.  A year later Jack's parents (Hans and Frieda) joined him to help provide the best in custom smoked products.  Hans was trained as a master sausage maker in Germany, and many of our sausage formulas date back to his training in the old country.