Mr. Henry P. Nemenz Sr., a longtime Ohio groceryman, died Friday, June 12, at age 76. He was surrounded by his family at St. Elizabeth Health Center in Youngstown. Mr. Nemenz was born in Salem on Nov. 12, 1938, the third child of Gustav and Anna (Schneider) Nemenz. He graduated from North Lima High School […]
Tag: obituary
Posted in, Northeast
Former FRANE Executive Director Lombardi Passes Away, And More…
Supermarket News In Brief… Harold Lombardi, former executive director of the Frozen & Refrigerated Association of the Northeast, passed away June 12. Donna Maglio, current FRANE executive director, said, “Harold was a kind man with a great passion for FRANE and its members. He will be greatly missed.” Lombardi’s wake is June 16 at the Bisbee-Porcella […]
Posted in, Beverage News, Suppliers, West
Beverage Industry Pioneer And Holocaust Survivor Langer Passes Away
Mr. Nathan Langer, founder and president of Langer Juice Co., died Wednesday following complications from a stroke. Mr. Langer founded Langer Juice Co. in 1960 and co-founded Unadulterated Foods (later known as Snapple) in 1973. He also was a Holocaust survivor. Mr. Langer, a native of Krakow, Poland, grew up in a family of wine […]
Posted in, Northeast
McDonald’s Pledges To Raise Minimum Wage Pay, And More…
Food Service News In Brief McDonald’s announced that it will raise wages at the roughly 1,500 restaurants it owns in the U.S. beginning July 1. The new policy, which guarantees that the company will pay at least $1 an hour more than the local minimum wage, only applies to company-owned locations, not franchises. The pay […]
Posted in, Store News, West
Memorial Service For Save Mart’s Piccinini Is April 11
A memorial service for Mr. Robert “Bob” Piccinini, owner of the Save Mart chain of stores in Northern California, will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, April 11, at CrossPoint Community Church, 1301 12th Street, Modesto. Mr. Piccinini died March 24 at his home in Modesto. He was 73. The Modesto Bee reported that Mr. Piccinini’s health […]
Posted in, Northeast
TryAngle Foods Mourns Loss Of James Gamba
Supermarket News In Brief… Members of the food industry and in particular TryAngle Foods are mourning the loss of James Gamba, 65, of Cranston, Rhode Island, who died March 15 following heart surgery complications. He worked for 28 years for the former Almacs Supermarkets as VP of meat and deli and was IT director for […]
Posted in, Corporate Store News, West
Former Hawaii Food Executive Godfrey Passes Away
Mr. Roger Godfrey, who had an impressive career in Hawaii’s food industry, died Thursday. He was in his early 80s. Details about his death and funeral arrangements were not available at the time of this report. According to a 2012 story about Mr. Godfrey when he was inducted into the Hawaii Food Industry Association’s Hall […]
Posted in, Corporate Store News, Midwest
Fall At Kentucky Gorge Claims Life Of 36-Year-Old Kroger Exec
A 36-year-old Kroger executive died over the weekend after a reported fall in eastern Kentucky. WCPO Cincinnati reports that Mr. Jason M. Lazor fell 200 feet at Red River Gorge late Friday night, according to Wolfe County Coroner Frank Porter. In an earlier report the coroner’s office stated alcohol was a factor in Mr. Lazor’s […]
Posted in, Center Store, Midwest, National, Suppliers
Tootsie Roll CEO Dies At 95
Tootsie Roll Industries Inc.’s longtime CEO and board chairman, Mr. Melvin J. Gordon, died Tuesday after a brief illness. He was 95. “It is with great sadness that we announce…the passing of Melvin—we will all miss him greatly,” his wife, Ellen R. Gordon, said. “Melvin’s life represented the very highest values in business, wisdom, generosity […]
Posted in, National, Store News
Trader Joe’s Pioneer Dies At 82
Mr. John V. Shields Jr., a retail executive who transformed Trader Joe’s from a quirky Southern California grocery store chain into a billion-dollar enterprise with dozens of still-quirky but uniformly organized grocery stores across the country, died Oct. 31 in Thousand Oaks, California, the New York Times reports. He was 82. His death was announced […]
Posted in, Independent Store News, Southwest
Longtime Brookshire Brothers President Passes Away
Mr. R.A. Brookshire of Lufkin, Texas, passed away Oct. 22. He was 80 years old. Memorial services will be held Saturday, Oct. 25, at 3 p.m. at Lufkin’s First Baptist Church with Rev. Bob Klund and Rev. Aubrey Knox officiating. A reception will follow the services in the church parlor. Mr. Brookshire was born Oct. 10, […]
Posted in, Independent Store News, Midwest
Grocery Industry Innovator Russ Raybould Of Nebraska Dies At Age 92
Longtime Lincoln, Neb.-based grocer Russ Raybould died Saturday, Sept. 13, at age 92. Mr. Raybould was known nationally as a leader in the independent grocery business. The company he founded, B&R Stores, now operates six Russ’s Market stores in Lincoln and one in Hastings. In 1984, Raybould launched the price-conscious Super Saver brand. Today there […]
Posted in, West
Memorial Services For Produce Pioneers Upcoming
Two pioneers of the western produce industry passed away over the weekend, just one day apart. Mr. Ed Baloian, patriarch of Baloian Farms of Fresno, Calif., a grower of peppers and mixed vegetables, died Saturday at the age of 92. He had suffered health problems over the last few years but had been at the […]
Posted in, National, West
Memorial Service For Produce Industry Veteran Tim Warren This Weekend
Mr. Timothy Wayne Warren, a produce industry veteran, died July 15 in Corona, Calif., due to heart complications. He was 55. A memorial service will be held this weekend. Mr. Warren was well known and respected within the produce community and was working in sales for Great West Produce Co. at the time of his […]
Posted in, Albertsons, Corporate Store News, West
Former Albertsons SoCal Division President Passes Away
Mr. Dave Simonson, former president of Albertsons Southern California region, died this week. He was in his mid-60s. His obituary was unavailable at the time of this report. “I really enjoyed calling on Dave back in the day…what a fine gentleman,” Willie Crocker of Bimbo Bakeries said in an email. Cheryl Kennick of City of […]
Posted in, National, West
Memorial Service For Jax’s Bill MacAloney To Be Held Sunday
A memorial service for Mr. Bill MacAloney, who died May 21 following a battle with cancer, will be held at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, June 1, at Fairhaven Memorial Park & Mortuary’s Historic Mausoleum/Rose Window Chapel in Santa Ana. He will be cremated. Mr. MacAloney was the president and CEO of California’s Jax Markets. “…Bill was […]
Posted in, National, West
California Grocery Veteran Rick Fry Dies At 62
Mr. Rick Fry, who spent 47 years in the grocery business and became well known and respected as a top industry leader in grocery marketing and operations, died unexpectedly March 14 in California due to post lung cancer treatment complications. He was 62. Since November 2012, Mr. Fry was a managing partner at Coastal Marketing Group, serving […]
Posted in, National
PMA’s Former President Dies
Mr. Bob Carey, former president of the Produce Marketing Association (PMA), died Friday in Delaware. He was 82. Mr. Carey led PMA from 1958 to 1996, taking it from a near-bankrupt organization with fewer than 100 members focused on produce packaging to a vertically integrated association of thousands focused on marketing. His vision of bringing […]
Posted in, Independent Store News, Midwest
Genevieve Dierberg Dies At Age 107
Mrs. Genevieve Dierberg, whose husband’s father founded the St. Louis-area grocery store chain that bears the family’s name, died Nov. 19 at age 107. Her husband, the late William F. Dierberg, was a second-generation grocer who, with his brother, took over the business from their father in 1929. Their son, Bob Dierberg, is the current […]
Posted in, Independent Store News, West
Bristol Farms’ Director Of Warehouse And Distribution Dies At Age 57
Mr. Adrian Kelly Davis, director of warehouse and distribution for Southern California’s Bristol Farms, died Oct. 10 from injuries suffered in an auto accident. He was 57. Mr. Davis, known as Kelly, was the brother of Bristol Farms President and CEO Kevin Davis and was a week shy of celebrating his 58th birthday on Oct. […]