Lou Gentine
Chairman of the Board
Lou Gentine is Chairman of the Board and a second-generation family owner of Sargento Foods Inc., a leading national marketer of cheeses and cheese-based solutions headquartered in Plymouth, Wisconsin.
Lou earned a Bachelor of Business in Accounting from Notre Dame and worked at Price Waterhouse as a Certified Public Accountant before joining Sargento as Controller in 1973. Following several other promotions, he assumed the position of Chief Executive Officer in 1981 and Chairman in 1996. Lou retired as CEO in October 2013 and was succeeded by his son, Louie Gentine. Today, Lou continues his role as Chairman of the Board at Sargento Foods Inc.
Throughout his career, Lou has served on various boards including VPI Inc., The Oldenburg Group, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Milwaukee, and Road America. He also served as Chairman for the International Dairy Foods Association and National Cheese Institute in Washington, D.C and remains a member of these respective boards today. He also lead the development of The Osthoff Resort in Elkhart Lake and continues to encourage and support positive growth in local communities.
Lou and his wife, Michele, are active members of Legatus, a Catholic Executives organization, and both serve on the Board of Trustees of Institute for Church Life and center for Social Concerns at the University of Notre Dame. Lou recently served as co-chair for the University of Wisconsin’s Center for Dairy Research renovation and expansion campaign. Prior to this, Lou and Michele shared chairmanship duties for the Sheboygan County United Way Campaign in 2005 and the Campaign for Holy Hill in 2001.
Lou and Michele happily reside in Elkhart Lake where they raised their three children, Tony, Louie, and Kelly. In addition to his children and ten grandchildren, Lou enjoys motorcycling, reading, and a very occasional game of golf.