Roy E. Farmer, who succeeded his father last year as chairman and CEO of Torrance-area coffee roaster and distributor Farmer Bros. Co., died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, an Orange County Coroner's Office spokesman said Monday.

The incident occurred at 5 a.m. Friday at the 52-year-old Farmer's Huntington Beach house, said Jim Amormino, a coroner's spokesman. Farmer lived in a two-bedroom house on Seabreeze Drive, according to property records.

The Huntington Beach Police Department didn't release any information on Farmer by Monday afternoon.

The board of directors elected Guenter W. Berger, the public company's vice president of production and a director, as interim CEO in a meeting Sunday.

"It was a shock to hear the news. I knew him fairly well," said Pedro Gavina, president of F. Gavina & Sons Inc., a Vernon gourmet-coffee roaster. "We do some business together and it was always a pleasure to do business with him. He was always a hard-working man and he devoted his life to the Farmer Bros. Co."

When told about the circumstances of Farmer's death, Gavina exclaimed, "That's even more devastating."

Farmer Bros. acknowledged Farmer's death in a statement on Monday, but didn't give the cause. Farmer Bros. spokesman Jim Lucas declined to comment further on Farmer's death.

"It is the company's long-standing policy not to comment on private matters," Lucas said.

Farmer was elected CEO in March 2003. A grandson of one of the company's co-founders, he became the firm's third board chairman in 93 years in June, succeeding his father, who died a few months earlier after a long battle with cancer.

Roy E. Farmer, who spent his entire adult life working at the company, previously had served nine years as president and chief operating officer. He retained the title of president until his death.

Farmer Bros. sells its coffee to restaurants, hotels, hospitals, convenience stores and other institutional customers in 28 states. The company has 1,100 employees, with about 400 in the South Bay.

Farmer had spent the past few years dealing with the complaints of dissident investors, who accused the firm's management of being too secretive and, in some cases, possibly running the company for personal gain.

The company has gone through several years of declining earnings it blamed mostly on the rising price of green coffee beans, the shaky economy, and internal investments and expenses.

Last week, an investor forum financed by Franklin Mutual Advisers, the company's biggest institutional investor, sent a memo to shareholders suggesting that Farmer Bros.' management must be replaced to bring the stock price to $40 a share.

Jack Norbert, chairman of Standard Investment Chartered in Costa Mesa who has criticized Farmer Bros. management, said the company has improved its attitude to shareholders.

"I think that the company has taken giant leaps in its communication with stockholders," said Norberg, whose firm owns 25,000 to 30,000 Farmer Bros. shares. "There was certainly an improved reporting position."

Norberg, who didn't know Roy Farmer personally, described the Farmer family as frugal and never flamboyant.

"I think it's obvious now that Roy was not interested in the money. It's not like he's been running this company for his personal gain," Norberg said. "There's no fraud going on here. Why would you kill yourself? You now have firmly inherited a company where you were in the shadow of your father. He could have blossomed as an owner-operator."

Farmer's estranged cousin, Steven Crowe, also expressed shock at the death. Crowe waged a legal battle against the elder Farmer claiming the Crowe branch of the family was disenfranchised from the company. They settled out of court in December 2003, with the company agreeing to buy out the Crowe family stock.

On Monday, Crowe said that the younger Farmer's next of kin included his mother, brother, two sisters and several nieces and nephews. The Farmer Bros. spokesman wouldn't discuss Farmer's family life.

James J. McGarry, a Torrance lawyer who had known Roy Farmer since they were about 12, said the death is especially surprising considering a recent conversation they had.

"As recently as a week ago, I was on the horn with him and we were talking about exercise and getting into shape," said McGarry, whose law firm does work for Farmer Bros. "He had been talking about getting into shape and generally feeling better."

The two worked together for two summers at the company in their late teens. McGarry described Farmer as a loyal friend and hard worker.

"A couple of years ago, I said to him, 'How do you see the future of the business?' " recalled McGarry. "He said, 'Well, the company was founded by my grandfather and granduncle in 1912. And I'd like to see it through to its 100th year in 2012.' He'd be 60."

On Monday, the company's stock price rose $2.38, or 10.58 percent, to $24.87 on the Nasdaq.

"I think the perception is that the company is for sale," Norberg said.