A “proud” owner of T. Grana & Son Produce, a business that served the Niagara Falls community for more than 100 years, died on Saturday at the age of 95.
In 2019 when the T. Grana & Son celebrated its 100 years in business, Julian Grana told a reporter of his life’s work, “I’ve loved every day.”
Back in those days, prior to selling the business in 2021, Julie, as he was nicknamed, mostly put the fruit baskets together and he said he was enjoying it more than ever. “I love people. I talk to people about old times. Everybody who walks in I say, ‘Where were you born?’ and then I start. And I can’t stop.”
Born Sept. 23, 1929, Julian said his mother went into labor while she was selling produce at the Niagara Falls City Market. He was about 7 years old when he started helping his father, Ted Grana, with the family business.
Ted started the business in 1919 with a horse and buggy. Ted was only 19 back then and his older brother, John, soon joined him to assist in the fruit and produce delivery business which they named Grana Brothers. The brothers went to the markets every morning in Buffalo to buy the freshest produce and delivered their purchases to hundreds of homes and businesses in Niagara Falls and surrounding areas. Eventually, there was a storefront at 1314 Niagara St., then a store on East Falls Street, then a two-car garage on Fort Avenue and finally, 33 years ago, the storefront at 2610 Pine Ave.
Overall, it was an abundant life for Julie Grana and his wife, Annabelle, who he met when they were attending South Junior High School. They later married but had to cut their Florida honeymoon short because he was drafted during the Korean War. Their first child, Julie Ann, was born in Niagara Falls while he was serving in Germany and he missed home the whole time he was away. There were two more kids, Ted and Karen, and all of them helped out at the store as they were growing up, as did the eight grandchildren.
Julie Ann Grana, a retired Niagara Falls School District teacher, said as the business grew they needed to rent storefronts and the whole family was involved. “One Christmas we were so busy we couldn’t get to church on the Sunday before Christmas so the priest from our parish came and said Mass at the store.”
Karen Grana, who worked in the city schools as a pupil service assistant, remembers delivering the fruit baskets with her sister, Julie, saying “If you were a Grana, you were going to work.” She also remembers her dad hiring people who were down on their luck, and many days when Grana employees were invited to join the family at the dinner table. The sisters attribute their work ethic to their father. “My dad is the best,” Karen said.
Julian Grana’s visitation hours are 3 to 7 p.m. Thursday at M.J. Colucci & Son Niagara Funeral Chapel, 2730 Military Road. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday in St. Raphael’s Parish, 3840 Macklem Ave. Entombment will follow in St. Joseph Cemetery.