M.D. (Pete) McVay played a major role in expanding Cargill Inc.'s realm beyond grain trading into food processing, and after he retired as Cargill's president in 1984, he went on to acquire community banks.
McVay, 92, died March 4 after a brief illness in Australia, where -- true to his upbringing and long career at agribusiness giant Cargill -- he raised cattle. "He was an avid agriculturist," said Greg Page, chief executive of Minnetonka-based Cargill.
Raised on a cattle and wheat farm in Kansas, McVay graduated from Kansas State University, where he studied animal husbandry and agriculture economics. Fresh out of school, he landed a job at Cargill, working in the Grain Exchange building in downtown Minneapolis.
After a four-year stint as U.S. Navy pilot during World War II, McVay returned to Cargill and began a career that not only led Cargill deep into soybean processing, but helped expand the U.S. soybean industry. He was head of Cargill's soybean business from 1950 to 1971, developing the firm's extensive network of processing plants abroad.
During that time, his job expanded, and by 1968 he was group vice president in charge of oilseed processing and refining, feed and poultry operations. McVay was named to Cargill's board of directors in 1969, two years before becoming an executive vice president. He was promoted to chief operating officer in 1976 and named president in 1977.
"Pete is known as the person who really got us into a lot of sound, fundamental businesses that have been successful and will be driving Cargill's success for a long time," said Warren Staley, a friend of McVay's and a Cargill CEO who retired in 2007.
Indeed, McVay was instrumental in making Cargill a force in meat processing, flour milling and corn milling. "He really drove Cargill into the processing business," said Page, who met McVay during his rookie year at Cargill in 1974.
McVay left Cargill when he reached 65, the mandatory retirement age for the company's top executives. Two years later, he formed Minnwest Inc. and bought several rural banks from Norwest Corp. Minnetonka-based Minnwest has grown from 7 to 23 locations over the past 25 years, and has assets of $1.7 billion.
McVay was chairman of Minnwest until 2006 and remained a director and adviser to the bank until his death. He lived in the Twin Cities, but spent three months each year at his ranch in Australia, one of the largest in the western part of that country, Staley said. He also had a farm and ranch in Mora, Minn.
He is survived by his wife, Mary Myers McVay; children Marcie McVay, Kita McVay, Todd McVay and Sara McVay; and 21 grandchildren. Another daughter, Molly McVay, preceded him in death in 1991, as did his first wife, Rosemary Moskalik McVay, in 1975.
Mike Hughlett • 612-673-7003
