Michael Maddan Sr., the second generation to run the San Francisco-based food brokerage firm Maddan & Co., died suddenly Oct. 11 of a heart attack at age 65.

Maddan & Co. was founded by Jack Maddan in 1947 as a food broker specializing in grocery items. Michael Maddan Sr. joined the firm in 1970 on a full-time basis after being warned by a competitor that the relatively small food broker operation wouldn’t survive for too much longer. His son, Mike Maddan Jr., the current president of the firm, said his father always said there were 89 San Francisco food brokers in business when he started in 1970 and today there are very few left.Michael P. Maddan Sr.

“Senior,” as he was called by his son and others, took great pride in the longevity of the firm and building and spreading its reputation.  

“He was one of the first -- in the 1970s -- to become involved with non-perishable Items that were sold to and merchandised in the produce department,” said his son.

A fresh-squeezed lemon juice was the company’s first foray into produce department representation. The firm has been especially adept at working with startups and being involved in a company’s first sale in the supermarket, but it also represents many, large, established national brands.

Mr. Maddan once told this reporter that moving headlong into the produce sector “was the best move we ever made. Produce is a people business,” he noted.

Always dressed in a suit, Mr. Maddan looked more like a representative of the financial industry his office shared the neighborhood within San Francisco than the produce accounts that he pushed. His friends were long and deep in the produce, food and supermarket industries.

Don Murphy, who is retiring later this year after about 15 years as a director of produce and floral with Grocery Outlet, credits Mr., Maddan with pointing him toward his current employer. “He told me it would be a great fit and he was right.” Murphy called him a “dear friend” of both his and the produce industry.

Homero Levy de Barros, president of HLB Specialties in Pompano Beach, FL, said his company has had a long relationship with the Maddan family business that spans 15 years, and Mr. Maddan will be remembered dearly.

“He was always upbeat and looking for the positive side of life,” Levy de Barros told The Produce News. “Just like our company, his is also a family business, and as such, our involvement was much deeper. Mike Sr.’s work was very important to our growth and success, and we look forward to many more years working together with Mike Maddan Jr. and Trish Maddan, who have inherited Mike Sr.’s relentless persistence of meeting our common goals. Our thoughts are with the entire Maddan family.”

Steve Jonquière, president and chief executive officer of Save Mart Supermarkets in Modesto, CA, expressed a view of Mr. Maddan that is shared by many: “Mike was the consummate businessman, family man and the reigning patriarch of the Maddan family and the Maddan Company. His passion for his family and his business was inseparable.  They are one in the same. A true ‘family business,’ his has always translated into impeccable service to the industry, principals and retailers alike. Mike always cherished the San Francisco-based business his dad created and, with his wife Lynn, found great pride in seeing their children join the company with the same vigor.”

Ed Odron worked with Mr. Maddan as a senior produce executive with Lucky Stores, and for the past 15 years has worked with Maddan & Co. as a consultant.

“I have never met anybody more enthusiastic about the produce industry, he loved this business,” Odron said. “What he really loved to do was sell. It didn’t matter what he was selling or how much he got, he just loved to sell.”

Odron also offered a comment that others echoed in one way or another, saying, “He didn’t seem to have a down moment. He was always so positive and smiling.”

A couple of years ago, Mr. Maddan elevated his son to the role of president of the firm, just as his father had named him president in the mid-1980s. At the same time, Mr. Maddan appointed his daughter, Patricia (Trish) E. Maddan, as the new executive vice president of the firm. Mr. Maddan, who noted he had no plans for retirement at the time, remained chairman of the board.

Michael Maddan Jr. said, “Trish and I look forward to running the company under the same fine traditions my father established. He always wanted this to become a 100-year-old company and have the fourth generation work here.”

Maddan Sr. was predeceased by his wife of 40 years, Lynn Maddan, who died last year. He is survived by his four children, their spouses, six grandchildren and many more extended family.