Commemorating Sam Skaggs’ 100th Birthday
Michael Courtney
Diocesan Archivist
Aug. 9 marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of Lenard Samuel Skaggs, Jr., an entrepreneur, philanthropist and Catholic convert whose legacy includes a 53-acre site in Draper that houses three Catholic schools.
Born on August 9, 1923 to L.S. Skaggs Sr. and Vivian Howe Skaggs in Yakama, Wash., Sam Skaggs entered a family that played a leading role in the retailing business in the American West. His grandfather, Samuel Skaggs, opened the Skaggs Cash Store in American Falls, Idaho in 1915. From this one store germinated 400 Skaggs United Grocery Stores and 50 Skaggs Cash and Carry stores. In 1926, all Skaggs stores merged with 322 grocery stores from Southern California to form Safeway Grocery.
M.B. Skaggs, brother of L.S. Skaggs Sr. became CEO of Safeway; other members of the family held management positions within the company. By the beginning of the 1940s, most Skaggs family members left Safeway to establish their own businesses; this included Sam Skaggs Jr.’s father. In 1939, L.S. Skaggs Sr. purchased four drugs stores, naming the company Payless Drug Stores.
Before joining his father in the drug store business, Sam Skaggs, Jr. attended school in Salt Lake City. After graduating high school, he enrolled at Westminster College to study pharmacology, but the outbreak of World War II interrupted his studies. He enlisted in the U.S. Army, serving in the Chemical Warfare Division, and participated in the Allied D-Day invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944.
At the conclusion of the war, Skaggs returned to Salt Lake City to become part of his family’s growing business. Only a few years after his return, L.S. Skaggs Sr. died suddenly in 1950, making Sam Skaggs Jr., at the age of 27, the president and CEO of Payless Drug Stores.
At that time there were 11 stores; by 1965 the business had grown to 69 stores, with the pharmacies known as Skaggs Drug Centers. Four years later, Skaggs revolutionized the grocery store business by partnering with Alberston’s Inc., pioneering the combined food and drug store concept.
In the late 1970s, the Skaggs-Alberston relationship amicably separated, and in 1979, Payless Drug Stores merged with the American Stores Company, naming Skaggs Jr. president and CEO of the company. During his tenor, Skaggs Jr. placed several well-known stores – Alpha Beta, Jewel Stores, Lucky Stores, Sav-On Drug, Acme Markets, Rea and Derick, OSCO Drug, Star Markets, Buttrey’s Katz Durg Stores and Skaggs Drug Stores – under the American Stores brand.
By the time Sam Skaggs Jr. retired in 1995, the American Stores Company had 280,000 employees, owned 1,700 stores in the United States, and made annual sales of $20 billion.
Throughout his business career and in his retirement, Sam Skaggs, Jr. contributed to many organizations either through the ALSAM Foundation or with his own money.
The ALSAM Foundation was established in 1984 by Sam Skaggs, Jr. and his wife, Aline, to help support educational programs, scholarships for the underserved and medical research.
Among the many institutions to benefit from the ALSAM Foundation have been Utah’s Catholic schools. One of the first Church school projects underwritten by the ALSAM Foundation was at Judge Memorial Catholic High School in Salt Lake City. In 1991, the school’s then-principal, Fr. J. Terrence Fitzgerald (later monsignor), approached Sam Skaggs Jr. about donating money to help pay off the debt from the new auditorium. Skaggs agreed, beginning a strong connection with the Church and friendship with Fr. Fitzgerald. Another school effort funded by the ALSAM Foundation was the construction of St. Andew School in Riverton.
Although the ALSAM Foundation financed numerus Church undertakings, Sam and Aline Skaggs also personally donated their own money to some of these efforts. Skaggs purchased the land, subsidized the building of and bought equipment for Juan Diego Catholic High School and St. John the Baptist Schools, all three of which are housed on the Skaggs Catholic Center in Draper.
The next major school endeavor Skaggs directly funded was the fine arts center for St. Joseph Catholic High School in Ogden. The addition included a fully equipped art center of contemporary design, a black-box theater and a soccer field. Another school that Skaggs personally provided to was St. Marguerite School in Tooele. In August 2012, as the result of a parish-wide capital campaign and a generous donation from Skaggs, the new building of the St. Marguerite Catholic School and John J. Sullivan Education Center opened its doors.
Catholic education wasn’t the only beneficiary of Skaggs’ generosity; he also funded the construction of the Weigand Resource Center in Salt Lake City. The center, administered by Catholic Community Services, helps people who are homeless. As a parishioner of St. Vincent de Paul Parish, Mr. Skaggs gave funds to the construction of the parish’s Holy Family Hall.
While bolstering the Catholic Church’s mission through the ALSAM Foundation and his personal capital, Sam Skaggs was a convert to Catholicism. He was born into the Baptist faith. In fact, his grandfather was a Baptist minister. Skaggs’ devotion to the Catholic Church came from an experience in the Army. Once, looking for a minister to talk to about some problems he was having and unable to find a Protestant chaplain, he met with a Catholic priest, who listened to him and talked over his issues. This meeting gave Skaggs respect for the Catholic Church, leading him to take a keen interest in the Church and its activities. In 1995, he converted to Catholicism.
His long-time friend Msgr. J. Terrence Fitzgerald described Sam Skaggs Jr. as a man of integrity, wisdom and generosity who had a concern for the poor. These characteristics shaped Skaggs’ world view, leading him to become a successful entrepreneur, benefactor and convert to the Catholic Church.
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