Last updated on July 19th, 2018
Doug Cygan, president of Jewel-Osco, passed away this morning at age 55, The Shelby Report has learned.
The company has yet to make a statement, but a source close to Mr. Cygan has said that he was hospitalized in June for a blood infection related to emergency hernia surgery.
Mr. Cygan’s celebration of life service will be held Thursday July 12, at The Chapel-Grayslake Campus, 25270 IL-60, in Grayslake, Illinois. The hour and a half service will begin promptly at 7:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in memory of Mr. Cygan to the Northern Illinois Food Bank at https://solvehungertoday.org/cygan or the Greater Chicago Food Depository at https://chicagosfoodbank.org/cygan.
Mr. Cygan was named president of Jewel-Osco in May 2017 after serving as VP of marketing and merchandising. As president, Mr. Cygan led the company’s 186 Jewel-Osco stores in Illinois, Indiana and Iowa.
Mr. Cygan’s retail career began at Jewel-Osco in April 1980 as a part-time clerk, and he has spent his entire career working at Jewel-Osco. As he completed his education at Western Michigan University, he stayed with the grocery store chain and moved into roles of greater responsibility, including store director, marketing director, VP of fresh merchandising and VP of grocery merchandising. He was named VP of marketing and merchandising in 2011.
Mr. Cygan earned a bachelor’s degree in food distribution from Western Michigan University. He held positions on the advisory boards of Western Michigan University and NorthPointe Resources, a private, nonprofit provider of developmental disability and behavioral health services in the Zion area. He also served on the board of directors for both the Greater Chicago Area Food Bank and the Northern Illinois Food Bank.
“Doug Cygan was a Chicago legend and industry titan,” said Dr. Frank M. Gambino, director of food/CPG marketing at Western Michigan University. “Not too often do you see someone rise from pushing carts to become president of a major retail company. Everyone who ever called on Jewel Foods knew Doug. Doug was a class act…always willing to help and collaborate. One thing I always cherished about Doug was that he never lost sight of his humble beginnings…he was grounded and good hearted. He stayed involved with his alma mater right up till the end. As a member of our WMU Food Industry Advisory Board, he gave of his time to enrich the student experience as they prepare to become the future leaders of industry. As recently as March, Doug attended and lent his support of our 53rd annual Food Marketing Conference. He will be sadly missed by all who he came in touch with during his life.”
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