Charles A. Hinni, 71, who inspected meat for Jewel Food Stores for almost 38 years and stamped good meat with a giant “J,” died Monday, Feb. 5, in Bethany Terrace in Morton Grove, after an infection. He learned about food in the Army, from working in food services during the Korean War, and from his father, who was a poultry buyer. Mr. Hinni married his wife, Patricia, after the war, and they bought a home in Western Springs. Jewel hired Mr. Hinni as its first meat inspector, said his oldest daughter, Mary Yena. He traveled to Kansas City and to Omaha to inspect cattle and then inspected hindquarters in packing houses in Chicago. During the early 1960s, he became the face of quality meat, as Jewel featured him in full-page newspaper ads. “One out of three Jewel cattle are approved,” one ad said. “Here’s Chuck carefully inspecting a side of beef before stamping it with a `J.'” Over the years, Mr. Hinni’s job changed. He supervised other inspectors, and he inspected anything that was perishable at the company warehouse in Hillside. “He was always a company man,” Yena said. After retiring in 1991, Mr. Hinni cared for his wife, who had heart problems. After she died in 1996, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Yena cared for her father until he had to move into an assisted-living center, his first of five homes. Yena’s fight to find a good home for Mr. Hinni was featured in Newsweek magazine in November. Other survivors include another daughter, Judith Berg; two sons, Joseph and John; two sisters, Norma O’Sullivan and Lucy Gill; and nine grandchildren. Visitation will beheld from 3 to 9 p.m. in Hallowell & James Funeral Home, 1025 W. 55th St., Countryside. Mass will be said at 9:45 a.m. Thursday in St. John of the Cross Catholic Church, 5005 S. Wolf Rd., Western Springs.
