William Hugh Dyer Jr.

William Hugh Dyer Jr. 50-year Resident of Alamo William Hugh Dyer Jr., a WWII Purple Heart Veteran, Retail Industry Leader and Father died peacefully at his home in Alamo, CA on Friday December 7th at the age of 89, surrounded by his two sons after a long illness. He was preceded in death by his dear wife Margaret "Annette" Dyer. Born on March 16th, 1918 in Newport Arkansas, Dyer moved with his mother and stepfather to Southern California in 1933 at the age of 15. His goal was to become a lawyer, but in order to help out the family, he took a job at Swenson's Markets after school and did everything from unloading trucks, sacking beans and sugar and mopping the floor for $.20 an hour. A couple of years later he was taught how to use the cash register and got a raise to $.25 an hour. After three years with Swenson Markets and graduating from Wilson High School in Long Beach, CA, a friend of Bill's got him a job at the brand new 10,000 square foot Dollar Market store located in North Long Beach. Owned by Thomas "Irv" Levine, it was the start of a career and close relationship that would see Bill rise as an industry leader in the retail field and be elected as Chairman and CEO of Lucky Stores some 35 years later in 1971. At the time, his job with Dollar Market was to supplement his income and pay for tuition as he attended Long Beach State College and then transferred to UCLA as a junior in 1940 to take the required pre-law courses to attend law school. While attending UCLA, Bill enrolled in the Navy reserve program which was a 90-day course designed to train college students to become navel officers. In February of 1941, Bill was sent to the U.S. Navel Academy in Annapolis, MD, to complete his training and by May of that same year became a commissioned Ensign. By mid-June, Bill was serving on the USS Gregory reporting for duty in Quantico, VA, where the ship's command was scheduled to load First Marine Raiders trained in amphibious operations. Training exercises and repairs to the ship coincided with a 10-day leave where Bill took a train back to the West Coast and ran into an old high school classmate who mentioned that she had a cousin living in Norfolk, VA, and perhaps they would like to meet. The gorgeous 21-year-old was Annette Glover who was working for a top navel officer at the same base as Bill. It didn't take long for Bill to propose and the two planned to marry in December of 1941. But after the attack at Pearl Harbor, the USS Gregory was ordered to San Diego, CA, for new radar and the two married on February 27, 1942 before Bill shipped out. Bill was quickly promoted to Lt. Jr. grade in June of 1942 and within three months as the USS Gregory was carrying food, supplies and fuel between Noumea to Guadalcanal and Tulagi, the ship was shelled numerous times and sank. As his shipmates were in life boats or life jackets floating in freezing water and waiting for rescue, Bill made several difficult decisions that saved many lives. He later discovered a piece of shrapnel in his life vest that he used as a paper weight for years to come to remind him how close to death he had come. Bill was awarded the Purple Heart by the U.S. Navy for wounds he sustained. In December of 1945 Bill concluded his service with the Navy with a rank of Lt. Commander, and time served in command positions on several other Navy vessels. He was now 28-years-old, married with a family when he returned to Long Beach, CA, to visit his friend and mentor Irv Levine, who now had four Dollar Market Stores. Bill was immediately rehired as Personnel Manager in 1946 by Levine. One month later, Levine had a serious heart attack and offered the position of Vice President and General Manager of Dollar Stores to Bill. When he accepted, Bill also had decided to make the food industry his career and proceeded up the retail ladder chain of command as Dollar Stores was acquired by Golden State Dairies. When Foremost Dairies acquired GSD in 1956, Bill was named Vice President and General Manager of the Dollar and Jim Dandy store chain run by Foremost. Foremost owned 25% of Lucky Stores Inc. at the time, and later that same year, merged its 44-store Lucky Food Stores chain with Western Industries. Bill was elected Vice President and a director of Lucky Stores Inc. In 1957, Bill moved his family to Alamo, CA, to be near the San Leandro headquarters of Lucky's. In 1959 Bill was promoted to Regional Manager, in charge of all food operations for Lucky Stores, implementing the concept of "every day low prices." In 1960 he became an Executive Vice President and in 1967 was elected President of Lucky Stores, Inc. He was instrumental in building the Lucky Stores empire, acquiring Yellow Front Sirloin Stockade, Hancock Fabrics, Kragen Auto Supply and the Gemco/Memco membership department stores. During Bill's tenure, the Lucky food store business grew by acquisition in many markets including Cardinal Stores (Sacramento), Big Bear (Seattle), Jim Dandy and Food Basket (Southern California), Kash and Karry (Florida) and Eagle Country Markets (Illinois). Many chains continued to operate under their old names. Bill's success in growing Lucky's earned him the title of Chairman & CEO in 1971 which he held until retiring from those duties in 1974, and remained as a Director until 1987, when he retired with 50 years of service. The Gemco/Memco membership chain was eventually sold after Bill retired. The chain is now more well known as the popular Target chain of retail stores. Bill was saddened when the Lucky's food chain was sold during a busy merger and acquisition era, and equally as pleased to see the Lucky Stores brand re-emerge within the last year after Save Mart Supermarkets in Modesto, CA, acquired the Albertson's food chain, and management decided the Lucky's brand had greater name recognition. Bill's love of travel took them to Africa, Viet Nam, Cambodia, the Pacific Rim South America and Europe after he retired. He and his wife also traveled the country visiting all 50 states. He was a Mason and local philanthropist. He is survived by his two sons, William H. Dyer III, (Sylvia) and John D. "Jack" Dyer, (Nancy); six grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Bill's name to the Masonic Homes of California, 34400 Mission Blvd., Union City, CA 94587 or the John Muir Health Foundation, 1400 Treat Blvd., Walnut Creek, CA 94597. A memorial service is planned for January 5th at 2 p.m. at the San Ramon Valley Methodist Church located at 902 Danville Blvd., in Alamo CA, (925) 837-5243.