Newport International announced on 10 June that the company’s founder, John (Jack) McGeough, has passed away.
McGeough was at the helm of Newport International for 50 years, before selling his interest in the company to Sea Pride in 2013. He founded the company – which sells the Jack’s Catch and Pacific Cove brands – back in 1964, and continued to act as an external consultant until his retirement.
According to the company, McGeough got his start in the seafood industry in the 1960s while playing on the Rhode Island Reds ice hockey team. In the off-season, he would run a seafood restaurant in Wickford, Rhode Island.
“Soon thereafter, he began growing his Newport, Rhode Island-based business focused on catching, processing, and selling a broad variety of seafood to distributors and manufacturers, first through the purchase of a few seafood processing plants, then with the addition of a fleet of lobster boats and trucks,” Newport International wrote in a release.
Eventually he moved the business to St. Petersburg, Florida – where the company is still located today – in the early 1990s to continue the company’s growth. Today, the company is one of the largest importers of fresh and frozen pasteurized crabmeat in the U.S.
“We are all tremendously saddened by the loss of an individual who was not only industry icon, but also a mentor and a friend to all of us at Newport International,” Newport International President Anjan Tharakan said. “Jack will be deeply missed, but his memory and legacy will continue to live on.”
Photo courtesy of Newport International
