BEN SCHUSTER

BALTIMORE - Funeral services were held here last week for Ben Schuster, the last surviving co-founder of Food-A-Rama Super Markets, which once challenged Giant Food for market supremacy here. Schuster, 85, died June 4 following a lengthy illness. At its peak, Food-A-Rama operated 48 stores, with locations here and in Washington, D.C. The chain was sold in early 1985 to one of its wholesale suppliers, Harrisburg, Pa.-based Super Rite Foods (subsequently acquired by Richfood and later by Supervalu). Schuster opened the first Food-A-Rama here in 1960 in partnership with two brothers-in-law, Dave and Paul Diamond. The company expanded in the 1970s and '80s through several acquisitions and at one time had the No. 2 share in this market, just a few percentage points behind Giant Food. In 1985, it sold its 48-store operation to Super Rite when the partners decided to retire. Schuster was inducted into the Maryland Food Industry Hall of Fame in 2003. He is survived by his wife, Deborah, four children, nine grandchildren and one great-grandchild.