Joseph Long; Philanthropist Co-Founded Drugstore Chain

Joseph M. Long, who co-founded Longs Drug Stores and donated millions for education and the environment, has died. He was 78.

The California native, born in Covelo in Mendocino County, died Thursday night at a Walnut Creek hospital from a cerebral hemorrhage, the company announced on Friday.

Long founded the retail drugstore company in 1938 in Oakland with his brother Thomas, now 75 and director of Longs, which is based in Walnut Creek. The company, a $2-billion-a-year operation, has 14,000 employees working in 257 stores in California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Alaska and Hawaii.

For the last 10 years, Joseph Long had not been involved in the day-to-day operations of the store chain. One of his four sons, Robert Long, is president and chief executive officer of the company.

Long and his brother, whose father ran a general store in Covelo, moved to Berkeley in the 1930s and attended UC Berkeley. Joseph Long graduated in 1933.

During his later years, Long became known for his philanthropy, donating millions of dollars to medical, educational, environmental and wildlife causes.

He established the Joseph M. Long Marine Laboratory at UC Santa Cruz with an initial $1.6-million donation. He also gave $3.25 million to the UC San Francisco Medical Center, which named a wing of its hospital after him.

Long also founded the California State Park Foundation and the California Waterfowl Assn., which contribute money to wildlife and environmental organizations.

He is survived by his wife, Tina, four sons, two brothers, two sisters, and nine grandchildren.