Lennie Sam Skaggs Jr.

SALT LAKE CITY — Lennie Sam Skaggs Jr. died on March 21, 2013 of causes incident of age.

Skaggs was born Aug. 9, 1923 in Yakama, Wash. to L. S. Skaggs Sr. and Vivian Howe Skaggs.

He served his country in the U. S. Army, Chemical Welfare Division, during World War II. He spent three years in England prior to participating in the Allied invasion of Europe in 1944, landing on the shores of Utah Beach in Normandy, France.

He married Aline Wilmot on Feb. 27, 1949. He built the 11-store chain of grocery stores he inherited into American Stores Company, a retailer with over $20 billion in annual sales and over 280,000 employees by the time he retired in 1993.

Skaggs served on many corporate and charitable organization boards, including president of Young President’s Organization, president of National Association of Chain Drug Stores, First Interstate Bancorporation, Utah Idaho Sugar Company, Mountain Fuel Supply Company, Walker Bank & Trust Company, American Stores Company, Westminster College, The Scripps Research Institute, The Skaggs Institute for Research, The ALSAM Foundation, The Vivian Skaggs Foundation for Catholic and Community Charities, University of Utah Board of Regents and Holy Cross Hospital.

Sam and Aline Skaggs have shared their good fortune over the last 65 years personally and through philanthropic entities such as their ALSAM Foundation. Six universities have named either their pharmacy school or a building housing their pharmacy school after the couple because of their donations.

The Skaggs also established Catholic schools in Utah, and in southern California they built Mater Dei Catholic High School, located three miles from the Mexican border, which includes a science academy and an English language program for Hispanic students and their parents. Other gifts for buildings, scholarships, medical research, humanitarian and wildlife causes and other charitable purposes are too numerous to mention.

Skaggs served as a member of the Utah Wildlife Resources for six years and was involved with numerous Ducks Unlimited projects.

He is survived by his wife, Aline Wilmot Skaggs; four children: Susie Balukoff (AJ), Mark S. Skaggs (Cindy), Claudia S. Luttrell and Don L Skaggs (Teresa); 15 grandchildren and 37 great-grandchildren.

A funeral Mass was celebrated at the Cathedral of the Madeline.