Paul's Market founder dies

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Paul Zatica, the son of Basque immigrants who turned a neighborhood grocery store into a regional chain built on locally produced food and small-town values, has died.

The founder of the eight-store Paul's Markets chain died at his Homedale home Saturday, June 19, 2011, after battling cancer. He was 84.

A U.S. Navy veteran, Zatica opened Paul's Grocerteria in December 1955, months after graduating from the University of Denver.

"We opened our first store in Homedale on Dec. 19, 1955," Zatica told The Owyhee Avalanche around the time of the store's 50th anniversary. " ... I thought I could do it. I had three employees, myself and a good wife that helped me get started."

In the decades that followed, and through two store relocations in Homedale, the Jordan Valley native showed himself to be a hands-on businessman with ideals entrenched firmly in the community.

Zatica expanded his own business fortunes, establishing stores in Nampa and Meridian. In 1987, Paul's Corp. purchased a chain with stores in McCall, Riggins, Hailey and Mountain Home. Stores from that acquisition remain in operation in McCall and Mountain Home.

Today, the grocery chain that began as a small store in Homedale has two stores in Nampa, a Caldwell store, a Kuna store that opened in 1997, a Boise store that opened in 2004 and the Mountain Home and McCall sites.

Zatica served 10 years on the Homedale City Council and also served on the Homedale School Board for a decade. He spent nearly three decades as a member of the Owyhee County Rodeo Board.

He was grand marshal for the 2006 Owyhee County Fair and Rodeo Parade and was named the Idaho Retailer of the Year in 1988.

His philosophy was to have his stores rely as heavily as possible on foods that were grown and processed locally.

Two of Paul's sons followed him into the business. Stan and Steve now run the operation from the corporate office in Homedale.

In addition to his sons in the business, Zatica is survived by his wife, Jean, to whom he was married for nearly 63 years, a son, Bryan, and daughter Paulette, eight grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, two sisters and a brother.

A rosary will be recited at Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church in Caldwell at 7 p.m. Thursday, and funeral mass will take place at the same location at 10:30 a.m. Friday. He will be buried at the Marsing-Homedale Cemetery in a private ceremony.

(Editor's note: This story is a portion of a lengthy article written by Jon Brown, editor of the Owyhee Avalanche).

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