Eugene Walsh, Former Ralphs CEO, Dies

ELLIOT ZWIEBACH

FULLERTON, Calif. — Funeral services are pending here for Eugene Walsh, former chairman and chief executive officer of Ralphs Grocery Co., who died earlier this week.

Walsh joined Ralphs in 1950 as controller. He was named executive vice president in 1968 and chairman and CEO in 1973 — the first person from outside the Ralphs family to hold the company's top post.

He spent three years as chairman and CEO before he retired from Ralphs. He was subsequently named assistant to the chairman of Federated Department Stores, which had become Ralphs' corporate parent in 1968.