Stephen G. Sheetz, former president, CEO, and chairman of the board, died January 4 at the age of 77. Born January 7, 1948, in Altoona, PA, Steve graduated from Altoona High School in 1965. At just 12 years old, Steve began working part-time for Sheetz Kwik Shopper, the company his…

A memorial service to be held at the campus of Saint Joseph's University will be announced at a later date.

Jim Bartkowiak, the talented and personable dairy, frozen and ethnic category director at Shoppers Food, passed away on November 29 in Baltimore at the age of 75. Beginning his career at A&P, Bartkowiak was a fixture in the Baltimore-Washington retail food trade for 51 years. He spent the last 37…

The beloved and talented third-generation retail executive passed away earlier this month. Industry veteran retailer and current Allegiance board member Lou Scaduto Jr. was elected as Allegiance’s new chief executive and chairman.

Francis L. "Skip" Genuardi, 73, of Norristown, passed away peacefully August 4 at his home surrounded by his loving family. Born on November 29, 1948, in Norristown, he was a son of the late Frank O. Genuardi and Valie Genuardi, and the loving husband to Catharine Genuardi. He worked for…

Carl Greeley, owner of Geresbeck’s stores in Baltimore, passed away last month at the age of 92. Greeley was born and raised in Baltimore. He attended school in the city but dropped out at age 16 to help support his family. He learned meatcutting at a local market before joining…

Lester Cohen, retired chairman and CEO of C&S Wholesale Grocers, died April 19 in Boca Raton, FL. He passed away peacefully at home with his wife Norma by his side. He had recently celebrated his 98th birthday. Cohen was born to Lena (Goodwin) and Israel Cohen on February 26, 1924,…

Joseph Cowhey, 63, a member of the Wakefern family, a dedicated community and business leader and the owner-operator of the ShopRite of Warminster – a role he considered the fulfillment of a lifelong dream, passed away on April 5. Cowhey was a supermarket industry veteran with more than 25 years…

Food World doesn’t usually re-print obituaries from other sources, but we decided to make an exception for this one memorializing one of the larger-than-life characters from the food industry in recent years, Pat McCarthy, retired from Ocean Spray and namesake of the Academy of Food Marketing at Saint Joseph’s University’s…

Mark Polsky, former grocery executive and part-owner of former independent supermarket retailer Magruder’s, passed away on December 20, 2021, at the age of 74. Born in Silver Spring, MD, Polsky attended Northwood High School and then the University of Maryland, where he graduated with the college’s first computer science/information technology…

The son of retail pioneers Ralph and Shirley Klein, and the executive who oversaw the company’s legal and administrative duties, has passed away after a long illness.

Benjamin (Ben) Louis Sigman of Baltimore passed away earlier this month at the age of 76. Sigman was a co-owner B. Green & Co., which began as a wholesale grocer in Baltimore in 1915. The company sold its traditional distribution business to Richfood in 1994, which later became Supervalu, now…

Former Redner’s Markets executive Patrick J. “Pat” Ferguson, 82, of Macungie, passed away December 27, 2020 in the Lehigh Valley Hospital, Salisbury Twp., PA. Ferguson was the first official employee of Redner’s Markets as he was the manager of the retailer’s Red Hill location when the late Earl “The Chief”…

Michael J. Taverna, retired from Ahold USA, passed away unexpectedly on September 21 at his home; he was 66. Taverna was born on January 4, 1954 in the Bronx, NY. He was a son of Joseph Taverna Sr. and Pauline (Opalin) Taverna. A wonderful father, brother and friend, Taverna was…

Harold “Hank” Greenberg, the former Penn Traffic and Food Fair executive who later became president of wholesaler Certified Grocers Midwest, died earlier this month in Jupiter, FL. He was 93. Greenberg, a Philadelphia native, began his grocery career as a produce clerk at Penn Fruit while still in high school.…

Steve Ravitz, retired president of Ravitz Family Markets, died on April 8 from complications of COVID-19. The Ravitz family owns five ShopRites and one Price Rite in the Cherry Hill-Camden area of South Jersey. Steve’s son Jason announced his father’s death on his Facebook page.  He was 73 years old.…

Dr. Tom Haggai, chairman emeritus of the Independent Grocers Alliance (IGA) died March 27 of natural causes. Haggai became involved with IGA beginning in 1972 and spent more than 40 years with the organization. During his IGA career Haggai served in a variety of roles, including non-executive chairman and later…

On November 17, 2019, Dominick V. Romano, 85, CEO and chairman of the board of Ronetco Supermarkets, Inc., passed away peacefully surrounded by his family. Born August 20, 1934 in Netcong, NJ, to Thomas and Vincenia (Fanny) (nee Francomacaro) Romano. A long-time resident of Andover Township, NJ, he leaves behind…

Former supermarket executive Julian “Jack” DiFiore passed away peacefully July 15, 2019, surrounded by his family. He was 89. DiFiore was born and raised in Camden, NJ. He served in the U.S. Army in the Korean War. In 1949, he started his career in the retail food industry as a…

Rocco “Rocky” Cingari, who served as president and CEO of Grade A Shoprites in Connecticut for nearly 40 years, passed away on June 3. A lifelong grocer, Cingari started in the industry in his family’s first store, Grade A Market, opened in 1943 by his Italian immigrant father Salvatore Cingari…

Andrew “Andy” Klein, president and CEO of Klein’s ShopRite, was killed in a multi-vehicle car accident in Harford County, MD on March 11.  He was 65 years old.   Klein was the eldest of three sons of Klein’s Family Markets owners Ralph and Shirley Klein of Forest Hill. He grew up…

Ruth Eni, 94, of Moorestown, NJ, passed away peacefully February 8. Ruth was born and raised in Philadelphia, where she received bachelor and master’s degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. Post-graduation Ruth taught English at Upper Darby High. After a few years of teaching, her father Gottlieb Dietz, asked her to join him and help…