Jane N. Golub, who held various leadership roles at the family-owned Golub Corp. and the grocery store banners it operated, Price Chopper Supermarkets and Market 32, died April 16 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, in Los Angeles, following a brief illness. She was 80.
As well as being an accomplished businesswoman, Golub was a noted philanthropist whose causes included fighting against bigotry and intolerance, and working to improve education and health care, according to the Albany, N.Y., Times Union.
“We are heartbroken at the loss of our best friend, soulmate, wife, mother and grandmother,” Golub’s husband of 55 years, Neil, and daughter, Mona, said in a statement. “We will forever miss her fiercely independent style, grace, good humor and love.”
They added: “Jane’s impact on our lives and our community will be impossible to measure. We are grateful for the outpouring of love and support from so many in our community and beyond who have been touched by her humanity.”
“The entire Price Chopper/Market 32 family is in mourning today over the passing of Jane Golub,” noted President/CEO Scott Grimmett in a statement posted to the grocer’s website. “Jane has been an important member of our team for generations, and has been a vital contributor to our growth and success.
“More importantly, though,” continued Grimmett, “Jane has been our friend, family and role model. She taught us much about caring for our community and making our hometown a better place for all who live here.”
Born in 1938 and raised in the New York City boroughs of the Bronx and Queens, Golub married Neil Golub in 1963 and taught third grade in the Niskayuna Central School District in upstate New York for 23 years, before her retirement in 1986. She then embarked on a second career in the Schenectady, N.Y.-based family grocery business, taking on such roles manager of samples and sales, director of vendor marketing programs and director of in-store marketing programs.
She was also the educational coordinator for A World of Difference, a multicultural program led by the Anti-Defamation League of the Capital Region that was implemented by public schools and businesses across New York State. Further, Golub and her husband, formerly the Golub Corp.’s CEO and currently its chairman, took part in various local charitable efforts, earning them places in the inaugural class of the Capital Region Philanthropy Hall of Fame, and she sat on the boards of several regional nonprofits.
Physically active for most of her life, and a keen golfer, Golub had earlier survived a bout with cancer.
Among the many accolades she received, Golub was named a Progressive Grocer Top Woman in Grocery in 2011, along with Mona, now the Golub Corp.’s VP public relations and consumer services, who is a philanthropist in her own right.
A service will take place early next week, according to the family.
The Golub Corp. owns and operates 133 Price Chopper and Market 32 grocery stores in New York, Vermont, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. The company’s 20,000 associates collectively own more than 44 percent of the company’s privately held stock. Golub is No. 24 on Progressive Grocer’s 2018 Super 50 list of the top grocers in the United States.