Jerry Bisgrove

Born and raised in Auburn, an upstate New York community, Bisgrove was the youngest of four children. His dad, John, ran a trucking company, while his mom, Irene, was a department-store clerk. Bisgrove was immersed in the family business, Red Star Express Lines Inc., as a dock man. He eventually began driving the semi-trucks, but Bisgrove said his father wouldn't let him into the executive offices until he graduated from college. Bisgrove, however, was more interested in becoming a priest. For six months he attended a seminary in Rochester, N.Y. After he realized that was not the vocation for him, he went to Niagara University. Eventually, the East Coast hauler became a huge success, and Bisgrove sold it in 1987 to TNT Limited of Sydney, Australia, for an undisclosed sum. At the time, Red Star was generating $112 million annually in revenue. Looking for an easier place to orchestrate social change, Bisgrove came West. He moved to Paradise Valley in 1991 with his wife, Debi, and the following year he formed the Stardust Cos. In 1993, Bisgrove began writing checks. Over time, money went for homes for Habitat for Humanity, clothes for poor children and camps for underprivileged kids. The Arizona Humane Society, Red Cross and local arts and cultural spots like the Arizona Science Center also benefited. Bisgrove, who was divorced, in 1986 began a five-year long-distance relationship with Debi, a construction lender in Charlotte, N.C. Jerry and Debi were married in 1991. Niki Cocuzza and her brother, Kris Wall, said that while Bisgrove had two daughters from his first marriage, Christy Holdefehr and Megan Bisgrove, Bisgrove never treated them like stepchildren. Jerry serves on the boards of the Arizona Community Foundation, as Chairman, the Translational Genomics Research Institute Foundation and the Scottsdale Healthcare Foundation. He is a founding board member of Science Foundation Arizona, and a member of Greater Phoenix Leadership and United Way’s Alexis de Tocqueville Society. Jerry has also received the Center City Starr Award from the Phoenix Community Alliance in December 2002, the Spirit of Caring Award from Valley of the Sun United Way in 2003 and the Whitney M. Young, Jr. Award from the Greater Phoenix Urban League in 2004. Jerry graduated from Niagara University in 1968 with a degree in economics. He and his wife Debi, have resided in the valley since 1991.