[chunkymonkeesmommy]

I know that this isn't the type of thing that we normally post on here but there may be some of you out there that had the pleasure of meeting this wonderful woman before she passed away last week. I thought it was only fitting that she be remembered on here as she helped pave the way for us to be getting such wonderful deals at Stater Bros.

Widow of Stater Bros. founder dies | Colton | PE.com | Southern California News | News for Inland Southern California

Widow of Stater Bros. founder dies

By MELANIE C. JOHNSON
The Press-Enterprise

Elsie Stater, widow of Stater Bros. Markets co-founder Cleo Stater, died Friday after falling ill during a lunch with her daughter and friends. Her age was unavailable late Monday.

Mrs. Stater, a Newport Beach resident, was with her daughter Virginia Foster and some friends in the San Diego area when she fell ill. She was rushed to Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla and died later that evening, according to a news release from the supermarket chain.

Cleo and twin brother Leo founded the company in Yucaipa in 1936. It went public in 1964 and was later sold to Petrolane Inc. in 1968. An investment group that included several Stater Bros. executives bought the chain in 1983 for $110 million. The company had annual sales of $3.7 billion last year. Cleo Stater died in 2001 at 89. Leo Stater died in 1985.

With all of their success, Cleo and Elsie Stater remained "some of the nicest, most humble people you'd every want to meet," said Jack Brown, chairman and chief executive officer.

Brown said he last saw Mrs. Stater in October when she attended the opening of the new corporate offices and distribution center. They talked by phone every two weeks.

The woman Brown described as artistic and stylish kept her San Bernardino ties with monthly lunches with friends in the area.

"Elsie was a very humble person, very quiet, almost shy," he said. "She was really a fashion icon. There was never anything out of place in her wardrobe."

Brown said when remembering the founders, it's also important to celebrate wives as well.

Burial services are pending and will be private. A memorial will be held at 1 p.m. today at The Ritz Restaurant and Garden at Fashion Island in Newport Beach.