Staples Founder Thomas Stemberg, 66, Dies

The founder of Staples, with its worldwide headquarters in Framingham, died Friday

Thomas Stemberg, 66, died October 23, 2015, of cancer, at his home in Massachusetts.

Stemberg was a former New England grocery executive.

He created the office supply store Staples after searching unsuccessfully for a printer cartridge on July 4th weekend in 1985, when Massachusetts still closed stores under its Blue Laws.

Staples has more than 80,000 employees and is worth $22.5 billion, and is currently getting approval to merge with rival Office Depot.

Former Gov. Mitt Romney, whose Bain Capital invested in Staples, called Stemberg “an extraordinarily creative and dynamic visionary.”

“Tom is one of the great business leaders of our state and our nation,” he said, according to The Boston Globe.

Romney said Stemberg persuaded him to draft health care legislation in the state.

“Without Tom pushing it, I don’t think we would have had Romneycare,” he told the Boston daily newspaper.