ST. LOUIS — George Paz, who grew up right here and would later lead Specific Scripts because it grew into the nation’s largest pharmacy profit supervisor and St. Louis’ largest firm, has died. He was 67.

Paz died Sunday, Oct. 23. An obituary from the household didn’t disclose a reason behind demise however mentioned he died “unexpectedly.”

Paz was born in 1955, the grandson of Mexican immigrants who settled close to Fairmont Metropolis. He attended highschool in O’Fallon, Missouri, and later he and his brother grew to become the primary members of his household to attend school. Paz earned enterprise administration and accounting levels from the College of Missouri-St. Louis.

UMSL’s campus would later change into the positioning of Specific Scripts headquarters in north St. Louis County, which Paz had constructed within the mid-2000s, cementing 1000’s of jobs within the area.

Paz was famous for his no-frills strategy to management. His workplace there was no larger than most of his staff. He parked in an unreserved, lower-level spot within the campus storage. UMSL scholar art work lined the partitions.

He started at Specific Scripts in 1998 as chief monetary officer. By 2003, he was president and by 2005, CEO. The next 12 months, Paz was elected chairman of the board, and he led the corporate for a decade because it grew to become a behemoth within the well being care sector, climbing to No. 22 on the Fortune 500 checklist. However he by no means took all of the credit score.

“Each time you congratulate George on the corporate’s success, he says: ‘It’s the workforce,’” Ward Klein, former president of enterprise group Civic Progress instructed the Submit-Dispatch in 2011.

By the point Specific Scripts was acquired by well being insurer Cigna in 2018, some 4,700 individuals labored for the corporate regionally and 26,000 worldwide, managing prescription drug advantages for greater than 83 million Individuals.

Paz retired as CEO in 2016, although he remained chairman till Specific Scripts merged with Cigna in December 2018.

Because the chief of what was the area’s largest firm by income for a number of years, Paz was concerned in lots of native causes. He chaired Civic Progress, the previous St. Louis membership of huge firm CEOs, and he served as a director and chairman of the Federal Reserve Financial institution of St. Louis.

Paz, who completed his diploma within the evenings whereas working in accounting at Basic American Life Insurance coverage Co., was particularly keen about training. He was chair of the UMSL Chancellor’s Council and a member of its government committee. He was a former trustee at each Washington College and St. Louis College. And he was the longtime chairman of Logos Faculty.

Paz was an avid golfer and loved mountain climbing and snowboarding in Colorado, the place he owned a mountain dwelling. He cherished spending time along with his grandchildren and cheering on the St. Louis Blues and St. Louis Cardinals “along with his spouse and finest buddy, Melissa” Oster Paz, the household mentioned in his obituary.

Along with his spouse of 20 years, Paz is survived by three daughters and 10 grandchildren.

A memorial service can be held in mid-November, although a date has not but been introduced.