Submitted by: Dan Rich

Martin Lewis Tarnow Jr.

Oct. 10, 1917 – Aug. 15, 1998

South Bend Tribune 8/18/1998

NAPLES, Fla.--Martin Lewis Tarnow Jr., 80, co-founder of Martin's Super Markets, died Saturday in Naples, Fla., after an illness. On Sept. 15, 1947, Tarnow and his wife opened a neighborhood "mom and pop'' grocery store in the 1500 block of Portage Avenue, which became the first of many Martin's stores. Martin and Jane Tarnow started the company with $200 in cash. "We borrowed everything else," he said in a 1997 interview. In December 1962, the Tarnows relocated to a site at Portage and Elwood, which is still the site of a Martin's store. There are today 17 Martin's stores in northern Indiana and southern Michigan. The company now employs 2,500 people.

In a 1987 interview, Tarnow was asked to explain the success of Martin's Super Markets. Personality, low prices and clean stores," he replied. Tarnow said he and his wife went into business in 1947 with two main goals. "We wanted to be our own boss and to put our children through college," he said. Before becoming self-employed, he worked for Singer's sewing machine makers, the Studebaker Corp. and various grocers.

He admitted to being amazed at what that first little grocery led to over the years. "We were just Depression kids. This is fantastic. It has been a very rewarding career--meeting all those people as customers and knowing them as friends," he said. The Tarnows began to retire from the business in 1977 and completely retired from the business in 1985. He was active in the South Bend/Mishawaka Area Chamber of Commerce and the Retail Merchants Association, where he served as president, and also was involved in the National Association of Retail Grocers and the Super Market Institute.

Martin Tarnow was born Oct. 10, 1917, in LaPorte and grew up in South Bend, graduating from Central High School in 1935. He married Jane Cary on March 29, 1936. He is survived by his wife; two daughters, Nancy Bartels of South Bend and Suellen Leslie of Lexington, Va.; four grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

Private family services were conducted in Naples. Memorial contributions may be made to the Nature Conservancy, 1815 N. Lynn St., Attention: MSC, Arlington, VA 22209.

South Bend Tribune 8/22/1998

A giant of the community and a nationally recognized figure in the retail food industry, Martin L. Tarnow Jr., died last Saturday in Naples, Fla. Tarnow and his wife in 1947 put up $200 in cash to open a neighborhood grocery store on Portage Avenue. Today there are 17 Martin's Super Markets in northern Indiana and southern Michigan. Some 2,500 people are on the company payroll.

Guided by Tarnow's remarkable business instincts, Martin's stores over the years developed a reputation for fair treatment of the customer, and a friendly atmosphere.

Tarnow was especially proud of the stores' human side. He once called his experience, "A very rewarding career--meeting all those people as customers and knowing them as friends." Tarnow was involved in the South Bend/Mishawaka Area Chamber of Commerce and the Retail Merchants Association, in which he served as president. His passing leaves a void in the community.