The parent company of Marsh Supermarkets has picked a new CEO to lead the locally based grocery chain.

Thomas R. O'Boyle Jr., an executive vice president for the New Jersey-based supermarket chain A&P, will serve as chairman and CEO of Marsh, the company said in a statement Thursday.

O'Boyle

O'Boyle Jr. joined A&P in 2010, shortly before the century-old retailer filed for bankruptcy reorganization. The chain emerged from bankruptcy as a private company in March.

O'Boyle Jr. led A&P's merchandising, marketing and supply chain. Previously, he served as senior vice president of food, drug and pharmacy for Sears Holdings and as a senior vice president for the grocery chain Albertsons.

"I am honored by this opportunity to lead Marsh, a company that is clearly on the right path toward providing customers with the best grocery shopping experience possible," he said in a statement.

Marsh Chief Operating Officer Bill Holsworth had been serving as interim CEO since former CEO Joe Kelley abruptly resigned in May.

Kelley, a veteran of New York-based Price Chopper Supermarkets who took the helm at Marsh in May 2011, left to become president of the New England division of Stop & Shop, a 375-store grocery chain owned by Dutch food giant Ahold.

The departure left the Fishers-based chain, a subsidiary of the Florida-based private equity firm Sun Capital Partners, to a search for its third chief executive in a little more than a year. Kelley replaced Frank Lazaran, who left Marsh in April 2011 after a five-year stint as CEO.

Marsh operates 64 Marsh stores, 3 O'Malia's Supermarkets and 26 MainStreet Markets in Indiana and Ohio.