* Merle McGinnis; Safeway Personnel Executive

Merle McGinnis, 90, retired executive of Safeway and professor of food distribution at USC’s School of Business. An Illinois native, McGinnis moved to California as a child and attended USC, where he was student body president. He taught in San Diego, Los Angeles and Berkeley public schools, then moved into consulting and became Safeway’s manager of personnel services. After his retirement from USC in 1971, McGinnis was named executive vice president of the Western Assn. of Food Chains and was a consultant to the food industry. On June 7 in Walnut Creek.