Henry J. “Harry” McHugh, who held many roles at Wawa Inc., died at home on March 5 at age 80, according to an obituary from James J. Terry Funeral Home.
McHugh was recruited by Richard Wood, current director of government relations and sustainability, to be director of the information technology department at Wawa in 1973 as the company started in the convenience-store channel. McHugh spent 38 years at the company and retired in 2011.
He was promoted to director of finance, and then vice president and director of real estate, where he oversaw the rapid expansion of Wawa throughout its Mid-Atlantic footprint. McHugh looked for Wawa sites everywhere he went, and even piloted Cessna airplanes to cover more ground.
He was then promoted to senior vice president of operations. McHugh’s enthusiasm spread throughout the culture at Wawa, the obituary stated. He insisted that his colleagues continue their education, while championing partnerships with Saint Joseph’s University, Neumann University and Immaculata University.
McHugh was a community leader and served two terms as the board chair of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Red Cross. He also served on the boards for Saint Joseph’s University, Immaculata University, the Irish American Business Chamber & Network and the Avalon Yacht Club. He served as the Varsity Boys’ Soccer Head Coach of Saints Philip and James Catholic Church for 13 years, leading the team to many regional championships, as well as one Archdiocese of Philadelphia second place finish and one Archdiocese of Philadelphia Championship. He toured Ireland, England and Canada with his teams.
Born in Tuam, County Galway, Ireland, in 1944, McHugh was the seventh of 15 children born to Hubert and Sarah (nee Costello) McHugh. A gifted student, Harry attended the Christian Brothers School in Tuam, and then boarded at a junior seminary in Ballinafad. At 17, he emigrated to New York City and immediately enlisted in the United States Army. Harry studied at The City College of New York and The State University of New York at Purchase, while working many jobs. He excelled in computer science and worked on the satellite system supporting the NASA Apollo 11 mission to the moon.
- Wawa is No. 9 on CSP’s 2023 Top 202 ranking of convenience-store chains by store count.
Wawa has about 1,000 stores primarily in Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, Florida and Washington, D.C.
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