Kathryn McCurry Albertson (August 27, 1908 – April 30, 2002) was the wife of the founder of the
Albertsons
Albertsons Companies, Inc. is an American grocery company founded and headquartered in Boise, Idaho.
With 2,253 stores as of the third quarter of fiscal year 2020 and 270,000 employees as of fiscal year 2019, the company is the second-large ...
chain of grocery stores and a notable
philanthropist
Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...
.
Biography
Born Kathryn McCurry in
Boise, Idaho
Boise ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Idaho, most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, there were 235,685 people residing in the city. Loca ...
on August 27, 1908, she was the daughter of Neunan and Ida Mae McCurry. She attended school in the Boise school system and after graduation from
Boise High School, she enrolled at the
College of Idaho
The College of Idaho (C of I) is a private liberal arts college in Caldwell, Idaho. Founded in 1891 by Rev. William Judson Boone as a Presbyterian college, it is the state's oldest private liberal arts college and has an enrollment of over ...
in
Caldwell
Caldwell may refer to:
People
* Caldwell (surname)
* Caldwell (given name)
* Caldwell First Nation, a federally recognized First Nation in southern Ontario, Canada
Places
Great Britain
* Caldwell, Derbyshire, a hamlet
* Caldwell, Ea ...
, where, in chemistry class, she met
Joe Albertson
Joseph Albert Albertson (October 17, 1906 – January 20, 1993) was an American entrepreneur and founder of the Albertsons grocery store chain, one of the largest food and drug retailers in the United States.
Early life
Born in Yukon, Oklahoma Te ...
.
They married on New Years Day in 1930.
[
Kathryn Albertson also founded a local sorority during her time in the College of Idaho called Sigma Epsilon. It was founded on January 5, 1923.
Together, they started the grocery store chain that bears their name (]Albertsons
Albertsons Companies, Inc. is an American grocery company founded and headquartered in Boise, Idaho.
With 2,253 stores as of the third quarter of fiscal year 2020 and 270,000 employees as of fiscal year 2019, the company is the second-large ...
). Kathryn was there for Joe and for their daughter, Barbara, as the store they created grew to be one of the largest supermarket chains in America.
When Joe died in 1993,[ Kathryn remained active on the Albertson Corporation Board of Directors for several more years. In 1998, the company honored her by designating her Albertson's first Director Emeritus, an honorary lifetime position on the board of directors.
]
J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation
Kathryn and Joe believed strongly that “once you make it, you need to give back.” Together, they began to give to a number of charitable causes, often to help students who wanted to further their education. In 1966, they created the J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation to help administer their personal giving.
->
A walking park in Boise along the Boise River
The Boise River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. , accessed May 3, 2011 tributary of the Snake River in the Northwestern United States. It drains a rugged portion of the Sawtooth Range in so ...
bears her name, a gift to the city from her husband in 1989.
Death
Kathryn died at age 93 on April 30, 2002, and is interred next to her husband at Morris Hill Cemetery in Boise.
References
External links
J.A. & Kathryn Albertson Foundation
City of Boise: Kathryn Albertson Park
The College of Idaho
- official website
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Albertson, Kathryn
1908 births
2002 deaths
People from Boise, Idaho
College of Idaho alumni
Philanthropists from Idaho
20th-century American philanthropists
20th-century American women philanthropists