Ralph Ketner | |
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| Born | Ralph Wright Ketner (1920-09-20)September 20, 1920 |
| Died | May 29, 2016(2016-05-29) (aged 95) Salisbury, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Tri-State College |
| Occupation(s) | Founder and Chairman-emeritus ofFood Lion Philanthropist |
| Spouses |
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| Children | 2 |
Ralph Wright Ketner (September 20, 1920 – May 29, 2016) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He was the founder ofFood Lion (which was founded as Food Town) in 1957.
Ketner was born inRimertown, North Carolina, on September 20, 1920, to parents George Robert Ketner and Effie Yost Ketner.[1][2][3] Ketner grew up selling newspapers and almanacs, all while learning what he called "street smarts".[3] At a young age, Ketner had an apparent aptitude for arithmetic, claiming he could "out add any adding machine."[3] As a teenager, Ketner worked at his brother Glen Ketner's grocery store located inKannapolis, North Carolina.[3]
In 1937, Ketner graduated from Boyden High School and went on to attendTri-State College (nowTrine University) inAngola, Indiana, as an accounting major.[3] He excelled in his accounting and business law classes, but ran out of money and kept dropping out of a required public speaking course.[3] Thanks toToastmasters, he was eventually able to cope with his fear of public speaking.[3]
Returning home after leaving Tri-State College, he worked atCannon Mills as an accountant, eventually rising to the position of auditor.[3][4] After theAttack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Ketner volunteered and joined the U.S. Army, serving in Africa and Europe for 36 months.[citation needed]
On December 11, 1957, Ralph Ketner, Brown Ketner, and Wilson Smith co-founded the Food Town (later Food Lion) grocery store chain in Salisbury, North Carolina. Ketner served as President (later CEO, chairman, and Chairman Emeritus).
The chain experienced high-profile problems due to a scandal involving repackaging of out-of-date and tainted meat, and unsanitary conditions.[5]
Ketner's first marriage was to Ruth Jones with whom he had two children:Linda Ketner of Charleston, South Carolina, and Robert Ketner of Greensboro, North Carolina. His second marriage was to Anne Blizzard.
Ketner's faith was important to him and he was a member of First Presbyterian Church of Salisbury for over 83 years.[6]
Ketner died at ahospice center inSalisbury, North Carolina, from complications ofcolon cancer, aged 95.[7]
After retiring from Food Lion, Ketner engaged in many philanthropic activities in areas ranging from higher education, to housing, homelessness, children and hunger relief. In 1989, he provided half the funds and raised the other half necessary to build Rowan Helping Ministries first building, which was completed in 1989. On Ketner's 94th birthday, he donated $94,000 to Rowan Helping Ministries.
Two schools of business have been named in Ketner's honor: Ketner School of Business atTrine University, formerly Tri-State College and hisalma mater; and Ketner School of Business atCatawba College, where he was Executive in Residence and provided free business consulting to students and the wider community.[8]
In 1990, Ketner was inducted into the North Carolina Business Hall of Fame as a laureate.[4]
In 1992, theNorth Carolina Chamber of Commerce, formerly known as the North Carolina Citizens for Business and Industry, bestowed Ketner with the award for Distinguished Citizenship for his "work as an outstanding entrepreneur, philanthropist, and civic volunteer."[9][10]
In 2012, Ketner received the Wilson L. Smith Philanthropic Award from the Rowan Regional Medical Center Foundation (now known as theNovant Health Foundation Rowan Medical Center).[11]
Ketner received the Ally Award from theLGBTQ advocacy group, Salisbury Pride, in 2015[12] and was a long time supporter of Alliance for Full Acceptance inCharleston, South Carolina.
In August 2015,North Carolina GovernorPat McCrory, a 1978 graduate of Catawba College, honored Ketner by naming him the recipient of the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the state's highest civilian honor. This took place at the premiere of Ketner's documentary “Lessons in Leadership,” which was "produced through a partnership between Food Lion and Catawba College, documents fully the business life and philosophy of Ketner, who once presided over the fastest-growing grocery company in America."[13][14]
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