Portland professor mathematically breaks down Bob Moore’s, founder of Bob’s Red Mill, Pi Day love story

Published 10:30 am Thursday, March 13, 2025

Aziz Inan, University of Portland professor of electrical engineering, met Bob and Charlee Moore, the founders of Bob’s Red Mill, with his parents from Istanbul, Turkey, in 2014. 

The minute-or-so-long interaction was impressive, Inan said. While their kindness was memorable, he said he felt a deeper connection because his mom was born the same year as Charlee Moore. 

“My parents just kept talking about them. They were so nice and it was so special because they’re from (my parents) generation, and could connect in that way,” Inan said. 

Charlee Moore died on Oct. 7, 2018, and Bob Moore died just last year on Feb. 10. 

Inan decided to use a hobby he’s had for over a decade, started by his love of making math puzzles, and use the power of math to find a trail of mathematical marvels connected to the Moore’s Pi Day love story.

Pi (the Greek symbol looks like a two-legged stool) is a mathematical constant representing the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. It’s an irrational number, meaning its decimal representation goes on forever without repeating. March 14 is celebrated as Pi Day because the first three digits of pi (3.14) correspond to the month and day.

Bob and Charlee Moore were married on March, 14, 1953. 

The ultimate goal in this: providing the Moore’s family will something they’ll enjoy. 

“It’s like finding a treasure,” Inan said. “If I find something in somebody’s life, and then their family can find out about it, I hope I make them happy. That pure feeling makes me so happy.”

The following information are Inan’s mathematical findings. 

“I’ve never seen such an intricate break down,” Inan said. “I do this with a pencil or pen and a pad and my basic calculator. I do this because I can see the connections, there is no specific method.”

Let’s see what he discovered:

It’s all about pi

Bob Moore, born on Feb. 25, 1929, and died on Feb. 10. 2024, and Charlee Coote born March 11, 1928, and died Oct. 7, 2018, got married in 1953 on Pi Day, but March 14 was not celebrated as Pi Day at the time. The two were introduced to one another on a blind date in 1952, and less than a year later, they got married on March 14, 1953.

Although Bob’s and Charlee’s birthdays are apart by 24 or 25 days, Bob was born 341 days after Charlee was born. Interestingly, the reverse of 341, namely 143 interpreted as 14/3 represents Pi Day in day/month/year date format.

Leap year

Pi Day is the 73rd day of each non-leap year, 2025 for example, and this Pi Day will mark the 72nd anniversary of their marriage. However, since they were on a blind date less than a year before their wedding, this Pi Day actually will mark the 73rd anniversary of their blind date. That is, the upcoming unique Pi Day is the 73rd day of 2025 and the two were introduced to one another 73 years ago.

When they got married, Bob was 24 and Charlee was 25 years old. The numbers 24 and 25 also represent the number of days Bob’s and Charlee’s birthdays are apart in a non-leap year (24 days) and a leap year (25 days).

Prime numbers and factors 

Bob died at 94 years old. The sum of the prime factors of 94, two and 47, add up to 49. (Note that 49 is also the reverse of 94.) 49 is the sum of 24 and 25, the ages of Bob and Charlee when they got married.

Also, if you split the year number of their marriage, 1953, in the middle as 19 and 53, 19 and 53 are the eighth and 16th prime numbers and eight plus 16 equals 24. Note that in 1953, their birthdays were 24 days apart.

Also, 19 times 53 gives 1,007, the day, Oct. 7 (10/07), Charlee died in 2018. The prime factors of 2018, the year she died, namely two and 1,009, differ by 1,007.

Geometry

Their maiden names, Moore and Coote, have “geometric” similarity. They both are made of five letters, containing two adjacent “O’s” as the second and third letters and they both end with the letter “E” as the fifth letter.

Inan offers a further evaluation of what makes Pi Day so special this year, which can be found here.