Much adored store owner remembered

The coals are cold in the old boiler stove at the Farmer’s Market and Garden Center. The social banter that once filled the third-generation Italian produce market has ended. Ric Naccarato is gone.

“The presence that he had touched everybody,” said Mike Naccarato, Ric Naccarato’s older brother and business partner. “He was magnetic. You just wanted him to like you.”

Ric Naccarato, of Otis Orchards, died Aug. 14 from injuries suffered in a motorcycle accident. The father of three boys was 39.

The market was Naccarato’s natural habitat, the place where he and Mike grew up assembling produce boxes and filling them with peaches for their grandfather, Jay Naccarato. At 1420 E. Sprague Ave., Farmer’s Market and Garden Center isn’t in the best area of town. It is not the community of Italian merchants that existed when the market first opened in 1949. There are sometimes streetwalkers on the corners, and one frequently can catch the sour smell of alcohol on the breath of passers-by.

The setting didn’t bother Naccarato. He’d give produce away to strangers if he thought they needed a meal, and usually had a dollar to offer neighbors who were down on their luck. At lunchtime, he’d go to Sonnenberg’s Market and Deli and pick up some fresh Italian sausages, throw them in a skillet with some market peppers and fry them on his old boiler stove. His lunch guests included members of the Spokane Superior Court bench as well as the man on the street. Naccarato, who dressed in long johns even on the hottest days of summer, would cook for all. He always said he felt cold.

Naccarato’s father, Mike Naccarato Sr., said, on occasion Ric would start his day by having coffee with members of the Roman Catholic clergy, serve lunch to the members of the Superior Court, and then end the day by having a beer with the bikers from the Hell’s Angels clubhouse just east of the market. Naccarato learned his skill with a skillet from his mother, Jan.

The crowd at Naccarato’s funeral reflected the cross section of society with which he interacted at the market, said Mary Naccarato, Ric’s wife. The burial Mass filled St. Mary Roman Catholic Church.

“Ric would find the good in anybody,” Mary Naccarato said. “I guess I always knew that.”

Mary and Ric have three boys, Jake, Bo and Luke, ages 13, 11 and 10. Like Mike and Ric Naccarato a generation before, the sons were fixtures at the market doing odd jobs almost as soon as they could talk. Naccarato would take the boys to work. The foursome always finished off their day with a trip to Sonnenberg’s for Carmellos and paper cups filled with Naccarato’s personalized blend of fountain sodas.

Now it’s Mary Naccarato whom the boys must remind to stop for candy and sodas, and sometimes the mom who always played the bad cop to Ric Naccarato’s indulgence of sugary treats, has to be reminded. She’s both parents now.

August and September are filled with special days for Ric Naccarato’s family. His wedding anniversary is in the fall, as are his brother’s birthday and his father’s. The family bought Ric Naccarato’s casket on Mike Sr.’s birthday. Ric Naccarato’s charm made those family days so special. His absence makes them so hard.