J. Earl Garrett; Philanthropist Headed Mayfair Markets

J. Earl Garrett, 88, community leader, philanthropist and former president of Mayfair Markets. A native of Nephi, Utah, Garrett earned a degree in accounting and business from Brigham Young University, where he later became a major donor, funding an auditorium and a professorship that bear his name. Garrett moved to California to become an accountant with Arden Farms during the Depression, and worked his way up to office manager in Alhambra, then to Arden auditor. He became treasurer of Arden’s Mayfair Markets Division in 1936 and was named president and general manager in the late 1950s, building the grocery chain into more than 200 stores in six states. Garrett later became chief executive officer of Arden-Mayfair, resigning in 1967 to found a drugstore business and later a landfill business. Garrett was a leader in the Mormon Church and served as chairman of the board of Verdugo Hills Hospital and chairman of the San Gabriel Boy Scouts of America. He was also president and a key fund-raiser of the Ettie Lee Homes for Youth and a board member of the Glendale Symphony. On Saturday in Glendale.