GRAND RAPIDS TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- A year after graduating from Cedar Springs High School, Earl D. Holton got a job working at a Meijer Supermarket.
He did not look back after that. Holton went on to become the president of Meijer Inc. from 1980-1999, before retiring. During Holton's tenure, the obituary says the company expanded from 62 stores in Michigan and Ohio to become a major grocery chain presence in the Midwest.
Holton's break in the business came while he was stocking shelves at the store. That is where he met Hendrik and Frederik Meijer. Young Earl was managing his first supermarket in downtown Grand Rapids at the age of 21.
That's according to an obituary posted on the Metcalf & Jonkhoff website. You can read more about Earl Holton's past there.
Close friends of the family are being invited to visit on Thursday, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park.
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Former Meijer President Earl D. Holton Photo: Courtesy of: Metcalf & Jonkhoff Funeral Service