In Memory of Stephen G. Sheetz

Stephen Girard Sheetz, 77, of Altoona, passed away peacefully on January 4, 2026, surrounded by his beloved family.

Steve, the third youngest of eight children, was born and raised in Altoona and he never wavered in his love and commitment to the community and the greater Blair County area. He graduated from Altoona Area High School in 1965 and attended Penn State Altoona, ultimately graduating from Penn State University Park with a degree in Business Management in 1969. He remained a passionate Nittany Lion fan to his very last breath.

Before 1952, the Sheetz family operated the Harshbarger Dairy and stores that offered dairy-related products. In 1952, Steve's older brother, G. Robert (Bob), acquired one of the dairy stores in Altoona from their father and renamed it Sheetz Kwik Shopper. When Steve was still a student at Penn State, he worked to support his older brother in this new endeavor. The business grew from that first store in 1952, adding gas in 1973 and opening the 100th store in 1983. Steve took over as CEO from Bob in 1984, remaining in that role until 1996, when his nephew Stan Sheetz assumed the CEO responsibilities, and Steve transitioned to Chairman of the Board. After his tenure as Chairman ended, Steve remained on the Board until very recently and he was instrumental in the formation of the Sheetz Family Council and the Sheetz Family Assembly, strategic initiatives to maintain a deep connection among family members and the business.

A passionate entrepreneur, Steve is widely acknowledged as a pioneer and one of the true innovators in the convenience store industry. Under his leadership, Sheetz, Inc. expanded its footprint and introduced industry-changing concepts like Made-To-Order, the “convenience store restaurant”, and revolutionary technology solutions, all to institutionalize a Total Customer Focus culture, the name Steve gave to his lifelong career passion to meet the customer with what they want. Most importantly, Steve’s undeniable leadership skills shepherded the organization from the founder era to next-generation leadership without sacrificing the business's family-owned and family-operated commitment. Steve, known affectionately within the Sheetz leadership team as “Coach”, took immense pride in the family members that followed him as CEO, including Stan, Joseph S. Sheetz, and the current CEO, Travis Sheetz. He took equal pride in the 18 family members who currently work at Sheetz, those who have worked there in the past and those who are involved outside of the business in various capacities. Together, Steve always credited those family members and those who support them in fulfilling his vision of a sustained, exceptional family-owned and family-operated business.

As a result of Steve’s vision, he was named the Chairman of the National Association of Convenience Stores; Sheetz, Inc. was named Chain of the Year in 1995; and Steve was inducted into the Convenience Store News Hall of Fame. Steve believed his team, and all of the present and past Sheetz employees, who he had so much gratitude and appreciation for, were the reason for those honors. Sheetz, Inc., with uninterrupted family leadership and ownership, is the 43rd-largest privately held company in the United States, according to the 2025 Forbes rankings. Steve was most proud of their 10-year consecutive streak of recognition on the Fortune 100 Great Places to Work list.

Steve was a long-time member of the Board of Directors at QuikTrip and M&T Bank, as well as other corporate boards. He was an active member and loved the Altoona Rotary Club, named a Paul Harris Fellow by this organization. Steve was awarded, in 2004, the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Altoona Chamber of Commerce.

A second great passion of Steve’s life is Altoona and Blair County, PA. His commitment to the people and the overall welfare of Blair County was instrumental in his strategic decisions regarding Sheetz, Inc.’s growth; any decision that would impair the community, even if it helped the company, was not considered. In addition to Sheetz, Inc. being one of the largest and most important employers in Blair County, Steve and Nancy have lived lives of incredible generosity for the people and institutions of the county. He served on the Blair County Sports Hall of Fame Board of Directors and as its first President. Steve and Nancy were named Angels of the Arts and inducted into the Hall of Fame by the Blair County Arts Foundation. In recognition of their lifelong commitment to the region and substantial financial and volunteer contributions, Steve and Nancy received the Central Pennsylvania/Blair County Community Foundation’s highest recognition in 2014. Additionally, Steve and Nancy have been impactful supporters of Sister Paula DelGrosso’s Food for Families Soup Kitchen, The ARC of Blair County, Gloria Gates Memorial Foundation, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, and numerous other local initiatives. Finally, Steve and Nancy have been instrumental in the creation and funding of the Gerald and Kathleen Sheetz Family Foundation, which will continue to underwrite programs benefitting Blair County for generations to come.

Steve’s lifelong commitment to his central PA roots were deeply connected to Penn State University. Steve served on the Penn State University Board of Trustees, the Penn State Altoona Advisory Board, the Presidential Counselors at Penn State, and chaired multiple Penn State Altoona fundraising/capital campaigns. Steve was awarded Distinguished Alumnus in 1994, Alumni Fellow in 1999 and Penn State Altoona Renaissance honoree in 2015.

Steve and his wife Nancy have endowed multiple scholarships that fund education for many Blair County students, none more close to their hearts than The Sheetz Fellows program at Penn State Altoona, initially endowed in 2009. Steve has served as the program's Board Chair, and to date, there have been 190 Sheetz Fellows, with 21 Fellows inducted in the most recent class. Steve loved teaching classes in management and leadership, mentored multiple Fellows, and traveled internationally each year with the Fellows program for experiential learning. The Sheetz Fellows program is housed in the Sheetz Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence at Rossman Park, both of which opened in 2011 and were funded by Steve and Nancy to bring economic growth to downtown Altoona.