John Sexton & Co. Leadership Succession
On March 13, 1956, 63-year old Sherman Sexton died unexpectedly of an aneurysm. He is buried at All Saints Cemetery in Des Plaines. Sherman had begun work for his father at the Lake & Franklin location as a Teamster in 1909 and his career had spanned 47 years. Sherman had led the company from a Chicago based grocery mail order house to a coast to coast foodservice distributor with over $40 million in sales. The untimely death of Sherman created enormous turmoil since there was no clear succession for company leadership. 65-year old Thomas G. Sexton stepped in as the president. Brothers Thomas, Franklin and Sherman had all joined the Teamsters Union on the same day in 1909. Tom had been vice president in charge of merchandising since 1926. In late 1956, Beatrice Foods approached Thomas G. Sexton and Ethel Marten (daughter of John Sexton) with an offer to purchase John Sexton & Co., both said no.
In March 1959, the board of directors held a special election for a new company president. The four candidates were Thomas G. Sexton, Thomas Webb Sexton (son of Thomas G.), John S. Marten (son of Ethel) and Thomas Mackin (Mack) Sexton (son of Franklin). Mack Sexton won the vote and became president in 1959. Thomas G. Sexton became chairman of the board. Again, Beatrice approached John Sexton & Co. with an offer to purchase the company, Mack said no.
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