Howard P Marguleas

Marguleas, 82, died June 1 2017 in Rancho Mirage, California following complications from cancer. Marguleas built a reputation as a leader in U.S. agribusiness and served under California governors Edmund G. (Pat) Brown and Ronald Reagan as a member of the California State Board of Agriculture. Marguleas is credited with bringing then-unfamiliar fruits and vegetables to U.S. consumers, starting in the 1960s with the first Hawaiian pineapples sold on the mainland, then branded fruit and nuts under the Sun Giant label. He also supplied red flame seedless grapes, vine-ripened tomatoes, colored sweet peppers, seedless watermelon and assorted new grapes and plums under the Sun World brand, in addition to Californian mangoes. Marguleas founded Sun World International in the mid-1970s, and sold it 20 years later. Earlier in his career, along with his father, Joseph, and partner, Frank Heggblade, Marguleas worked for produce marketing company Heggblade-Marguleas Co., which they sold in 1970 to Tenneco Inc. Marguleas earned a bachelor of arts in agriculture economics at the University of California-Berkeley. Marguleas was chairman of the board of the California State Chamber of Commerce and served on various corporate boards, including The Irvine Co., Sun World, Ready Pac Foods, Summit Health and Blue Shield of California, according to the obituary. Survivors include his wife of 59 years, Ardith; and children, David, Dianna, Anthony and Brian.