Thomas K. Zaucha (Tom Zaucha)

Tom Zaucha died on 12 November 2026 at his home in Baltimore, Maryland, aged 82. No cause of death was made public. The National Grocers Association announced his death on 14 November, calling him a visionary and one of the most influential champions of the independent grocery industry. A memorial service is to be held at a later date.

Thomas K. Zaucha was born on 11 April 1944 in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, to Joseph M. and Nellie Kula Zaucha. Growing up, he worked in his grandmother's neighbourhood grocery store in Warren, Ohio, where he first saw how closely an independent grocer is tied to the community it serves. He was a national oratorical champion as a young man and won a forensics scholarship to the University of Pittsburgh, where he spent four years on the debate team. He went on to coach a national championship debate team at Pittsburgh Central Catholic High School and later coached debate at George Washington University.

Zaucha entered food industry trade association work in 1971 at the National Canners Association, where he oversaw government and industry relations. In 1973 he became director of public affairs at the National Association of Food Chains, and he later served as director of government affairs at the A&P supermarket company. In 1978 he moved to the wholesale side of the business as president of the Cooperative Food Distributors of America.

In 1982 the cooperative group merged with the National Association of Retail Grocers of the United States to create the National Grocers Association, and Zaucha became its first president and chief executive. For 28 years he built NGA into the principal voice of independent retail grocers and their wholesalers in Washington, campaigning for fair competition and a level playing field against much larger chains. Greg Ferrara, who joined NGA under him in 2005 and later succeeded to its leadership, said he never stopped pressing that case. Zaucha retired in 2010.

Zaucha was married to Bernadette for 59 years, and the couple had a daughter, Rachel. He lived in Baltimore, Maryland, in his later years.

In 2009 the Food Marketing Institute honoured Zaucha with a lifetime achievement award, and its chief executive Leslie Sarasin credited him with making NGA a champion and protector of independent food retailers and with strengthening cooperation between the two associations. NGA presents the Thomas K. Zaucha Entrepreneurial Excellence Award every year at its convention, one of the most prestigious honours given to independent grocers. In its tribute NGA said he "helped give an industry its voice, its identity and the strength to stand together."