[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 2]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 2299]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO MARTIN J. ZANINOVICH

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. KEVIN McCARTHY

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 12, 2015

  Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of a great 
American, a self-made man, a son of immigrants and founder of an 
agricultural colossus--Martin J. Zaninovich, who passed away on 
December 9, 2014 in Santa Barbara at the age of 91.
  Martin's father John left Croatia on the eve of the First World War 
as the Austro-Hungarian Empire teetered toward dissolution. In 
California, John married Mary, another Yugoslavian emigre, and found in 
the San Joaquin Valley the familiar arid climate and rich soils of his 
Dalmatian homeland. On a small farm outside Porterville the Zaninovichs 
raised grapes and children too, two sons and three daughters by 1940. 
Martin came first in 1923, and after attending high school in 
Porterville, he left the valley for the University of Southern 
California.
  The Second World War swept Martin into the United States Army and 
across the Pacific to the small island of Okinawa. Returning in 1947 to 
Delano, California, Martin married Margaret Surjak and co-founded 
Jasmine Vineyards with his cousin Vincent. The farm marked the 
beginning of Martin's rise in the table grape industry just as it began 
to take off. In 1961, production stood at 450 thousand tons. By 2003, 
output had swollen to 730 thousand tons as aggressive marketing more 
than doubled domestic per capita consumption.
  It was not an easy accomplishment. Facing weak demand in the late 
1960s, Martin convinced his fellow growers to pool their resources and 
press the California legislature to pass the Ketchum Act, which 
elevated the table grape industry to parity with California's other 
agricultural commodities. Martin--who at various times chaired the 
South Central Farmers Committee, the California Fresh Fruit 
Association, and the Delano Grape Growers Products to promote and 
expand the market--accompanied the California Table Grape Commission he 
helped found on its first international trade mission to Japan in 1973.
  As a staunch conservative with a firm belief in individual enterprise 
and market economics, Martin constantly pursued policies and goals on 
behalf of valley growers. His work ethic went hand in hand with his 
philanthropy; Martin was one of the original founders of the California 
State University Bakersfield and a board member of Mercy Hospital.
  Martin is survived by his wife, Margaret, and their three children: 
Katina, Sonya and Jon. Today, Martin's family operates his vineyards 
with the same hard work and discipline he personified so well. The San 
Joaquin Valley has lost one of its champions, formidable and tireless, 
another of those citizens for whom the greatest generation was named. 
On behalf of our community, I ask my colleagues to join me in 
remembering the life and legacy of Martin Zaninovich, and offering our 
condolences to his family.

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