Nathan Sloane; manufactured Charleston Chew

Growing up as the daughter of a prominent candy manufacturer had its advantages for Helen Brookner.

``I was very popular," she said. ``I mean, we had bubble gum when no else did. I had a lot of candy, and everyone wanted to come over to my house."

Nathan Sloane, who manufactured the Charleston Chew candy bar at his Everett-based Fox Cross Candy Co. for 23 years, died Sunday while visiting family in Newton. He was 97. Mr. Sloane, a Belmont resident, also lived in Boca Raton, Fla.

Though Mr. Sloane did not invent the Charleston Chew, he did change the candy's original 1922 blueprint, chocolate-covered vanilla nougat, according to Stephen Brookner, his son-in-law and longtime business partner. In the 1970s, the pair introduced such flavors as chocolate and strawberry.

The candy maker was a big candy eater, too, said Brookner, of Lexington. His refined palate could detect the most minute ingredients and determine how weather affected each batch.

Born in Boston, Mr. Sloane graduated from Chelsea High School. When he was 16, he began his career distributing penny candy from manufacturers to family-owned shops. Following graduation in 1926, he bought the distributing company and later Kendall Confectionary Co. in Cambridge and American Nut and Chocolate Co. in South Boston.

In 1957, he purchased Fox Cross Candy Co., doubled the size of its production line, and increased the running hours of the already famous home of the Charleston Chew. He sold the company to Nabisco in 1980.

But despite the long hours he worked, his family was a priority, his business partner said.

``He was proud of his family; that was always a big part of his life," his daughter said. ``He was sort of a workaholic, but he was able to take me out every weekend when I was growing up."

Mr. Sloane and his second wife, Anita (Cohen), retired to Boca Raton in 1986.

In addition to his wife and daughter, he leaves two other daughters, Deborah LaPierre of West Newbury and Laura Korn of Salem; a son, Richard Cohen of Deland, Fla.; a brother, Dr. Arnold Sloane; five grandchildren; and three great-grand children.

A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. today in Beth El Temple Center in Belmont. Burial will be in Sharon Memorial Park.