Former CEO, board chairman of Price Chopper dies at 78

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. Lewis Golub, former CEO and board chairman of Price Chopper, died in his home in Vero Beach, Fla., Sunday, the supermarket chain announced. He was 78.

“Lewis Golub was more than just a great businessman. He was a truly loving and caring person who believed deeply in family and community service,” current Price Chopper president and CEO Neil Golub said in a statement. “His values are a big part of our corporate culture today.”

A public memorial service for Golub took place at the Congregation Gates of Heaven in Schenectady at 11 a.m. Wednesday.

Golub began his career at Price Chopper, a company that his father and uncle had started, working as a store clerk, tractor-trailer drive, forklift operator and electrician, attending Siena College in Latham, N.Y., earning his bachelor’s degree in food distribution from Michigan State University and returning to New York state’s Capital Region after two years’ service in the U.S. Army.

He and Neil Golub, his cousin, took over the company in the mid-1970s. He began a profit-sharing stock plan with employees, and employees as a whole now own 52% of the company.

Golub received the Corning Award from the New York State Business Council in 2003 in recognition of his achievement in leadership and business, having previously served in a number of executive positions for the organization. He also was vice chairman of the board of trustees for the Empire State College Foundation, a permanent member of the Institute on Professionalism in the Law and an advisory board member for the Albany College of Pharmacy.

“The loss we are all feeling is more than just the pain of losing someone in your company,” Neil Golub said. “He was a part of our family, and not just as a father, an uncle or a cousin. He was a part of the Price Chopper and Capital Region family, and everyone in our organization and our family will miss him deeply.”