J. H. Hume; Longtime Reagan Adviser and Philanthropist

Jacquelin (Jack) Holliday Hume, a leader in the dehydrated food industry and an unofficial adviser to Ronald Reagan when he was California governor and President, has died at the age of 86.

He died Tuesday in San Francisco from the complications of a stroke.

Hume and his brother Bill founded Basic Vegetable Products in 1933. The company became the world’s largest processor of dehydrated onion and garlic. In the early 1950s, Hume founded the American Potato Co., which became known as AMPCO Foods Inc., a major processor of dehydrated potatoes and other foods.

Hume was active in fund raising for conservative Republicans for more than 40 years and was a member of Reagan’s inner circle in his campaigns for governor and President.

A member of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, Hume also founded and was trustee of Citizens for America, a nationwide lobbying organization that promoted the Reagan agenda.

Hume was born in Harbor Point, Mich. He graduated from Princeton University in 1928 and earned a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard University in 1930.

A well-known philanthropist, Hume also was active in community and civic affairs. In 1975, he established the Foundation for Teaching Economics to promote economics education in elementary and secondary schools.

He also headed the boards of the Pacific Presbyterian Medical Center and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Among his honors was the George Washington Honor Medal of the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge for his “outstanding contribution supporting human dignity and the fundamentals of a free society.”

Hume is survived by his wife, Caroline, four children and seven grandchildren.

A memorial service is planned today at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in San Francisco.