RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. – A memorial service was held on April 7 for James William McVey, former CEO of Oscar Mayer. McVey, 83, died at his home in Rancho Mirage on March 23 of Parkinson's disease.

McVey was named CEO of the company in 1985 and chairman in January 1991. He retired in 1992. In addition to a range of civic leadership, McVey served as chairman of the former American Meat Institute in 1991.


Under McVey's leadership, annual sales at Oscar Mayer exceeded $2.3 billion. He oversaw 20 plants and more than 12,000 employees. His four children were among those employees — they were required to work summers at Oscar Mayer.

He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Eleanor Lauder “Weezie” McVey; three daughters: Margaret Lynne McVey Sanders of Dallas, Catherine Anne “Cathy” McVey of Rancho Mirage and Jane McVey Bosch of Phoenix; and a son, Mark Lauder McVey also of Dallas.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made to Donation Processing, The Michael J. Fox Foundation, P.O. Box 5014, Hagerstown, MD 21741-5041; by phone at (800) 708-7644; or online atwww.michaeljfox.org/.