Roger Dierberg, grocer and philanthropist, dead at 88

Dierberg was active in philanthropy and charity. He worked closely with Operation Food Search and was also involved in Food Industry Crusade Against Hunger, an organization devoted first to feeding people in underdeveloped parts of the world and, later, in the United States.

Reared in Creve Coeur, he graduated from Clayton High School and Purdue University, which he attended on an ROTC scholarship. He attended night school at Washington University, graduating in 1962 with a Master of Business Administration. Later, the university’s Olin School of Business named him a distinguished alumnus.

An engineer, Dierberg first worked at McDonnell Aircraft, leaving in 1969 to work for the family business. He was the cousin of the growing company’s chairman, Bob Dierberg.

“We always checked in with each other on important business decisions. That’s why we had such a successful business relationship,” Bob Dierberg said. “It was a mutual relationship of respect for each other’s opinions.”

Roger Dierberg was one of the founding executive committee members of the National Grocers Association and served as its first chairman. In 1995, he was named the Missouri Grocer Association’s Grocer of the Year.

His wife of 65 years, Barbara Dierberg, died in 2020. They had two children, Keith Dierberg and Sandy Becker; six grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. He had two siblings, Carole Stroud and Dale Dierberg.

A funeral was held Monday.