Jack H. Brown, the longtime chief executive of Stater Bros. Markets known for putting shoppers before profits, died Sunday night surrounded by family, the company said Monday. He was 78.

“Grief is not a strong enough word to describe what the Stater Bros. ‘family’ feels,” said Stater Bros. President and Chief Executive Pete Van Helden in a statement. “Jack touched every one of us in a very personal way, and it is that legacy that we must carry forward. He loved the business, his company and each one of us.”

No cause of death was provided by the company.

Brown, a native of San Bernardino, joined Stater Bros. in 1981 and served as president and CEO for 36 years. Brown became executive chairman after appointing Van Helden as president and CEO earlier this year.

On Monday, industry leaders described Brown as a visionary in his field. He opened stores in so-called food deserts to help low-income families, supported family-run and American-made suppliers, and championed employees.

“He was uniquely focused on raising the standards of living for shoppers everywhere,” said Burt Flickinger, managing director of retail consulting firm Strategic Resource Group in New York. “Jack always had the lowest prices on the highest-quality product.”

In tough times – whether it was recession or the invasion of retail giants like Wal-Mart into Southern California – Brown never backed down from a food battle.

In fact, those who knew him said he fought harder than ever to stay true to his ultimate vision: Do what’s best for the shopper.

“The consumer always won,” Flickinger said.

His passion for his customers extended to his employees.

When union and supermarket talks failed in 2003, Brown refused to lock out his employees because he was not a “union buster,” said Greg Conger, a local union spokesman.

“He cared about his company and his employees,” said Conger, of UFCW Local 324 in Buena Park. “He really was a giant in the food industry in California. He stood up for what was right.”

Of the four major chains, Stater Bros. was the only store to remain open during the 141-day strike and lockout.

“Organized (unions) never struck a Jack Brown store,” Flickinger said. “Not the butchers, not the bakers, not the service workers – because the rank-and-file blue collar could always count on Jack Brown to do the right thing.”

When it came to working at Stater Bros., Jack Brown insisted there was no better way to learn than the way he did – bagging someone’s groceries. Training from the ground up was vital – whether one was an incoming executive or a rookie recruit.

“You learn the business from the foundation up,” he told the Register during an interview this year. “You learn about taking care of customers. You learn about taking care of each other.”

Brown learned the trade at a young age.

In the 1950s, when mom-and-pop stores were named after their owners, a 13-year-old Brown approached Mr. Berk of Berk’s Market Spot in San Bernardino. The owner took a liking to Brown, who asked him for a job to help support his mom, a widow who worked six days a week selling wedding dresses.

Berk told him he could be a box boy.

“I was so thrilled to go tell my mom I had a job,” Brown recalled.

More than 60 years later, Brown’s supermarket career remained rooted in the same place he started.

Five miles from Berk’s market is the Stater Bros. headquarters, where, from 1981 until this year, Brown served as chief executive.

Brown, raised along San Bernardino’s stretch of Route 66, was passionate about supporting local charitable organizations in the Inland Empire – from Redlands’ annual Believe Walk for Inland Women Fighting Cancer to the Salvation Army in San Bernardino.

“Jack Brown’s death is a great loss to our community,” said Carl Dameron, who works closely with Salvation Army of San Bernardino. “He was someone who believed in the best of us and he contributed to our economic welfare, our social welfare and he’s also a person who constantly said positive things. He upped the morale of our community.”

He saw grocery strikes, lockouts, mergers and acquisitions, in a career that spanned seven decades. He helped grow Stater Bros. to a $4.3 billion company of 169 stores.

Yet, when he retired as CEO this year, Brown said he didn’t want to be remembered solely for the financial success of Stater Bros. His humanity, instead, was on his mind.

“When we go, some people won’t know who we were and some people won’t know what we did. But everyone will remember how we treated them,” he told the Register in an interview this year.

He was citing advice he received from fellow Horatio Alger Award recipient Maya Angelou.

“If there’s an epitaph: ‘He really cared, and he really tried,’” he told the Register.

Brown is survived by his wife, Debbie, and three daughters, J. Kathleen Smith (Michael Smith), Cara Hoffman (Scott Hoffman) and Melissa Koss (Pete Koss). He had seven grandchildren, Kaitlyn, Colleen, Caden, Dylan, Julianna, Jack Ryan and Emma.

His burial will be private, for family only, with a memorial to follow at a later date, according to the statement.

Contact the writer: nluna@ocregister.com