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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- John Paras, founder of the furniture-store chain bearing his name, has died.
Paras died Saturday at his home. He was 88.
After graduating Cyprus High School, Paras joined the Navy, was a gunner on the USS Raleigh when Pearl Harbor was attacked, and served throughout World War II, including a battle at Guadalcanal where his ship was sunk.
After the war, he joined his brothers in starting a grocery business. In 1953, he opened his first furniture store and worked in the business until his retirement in 1988. John Paras Furniture has four Utah locations and a clearance center in Rock Springs, Wyo.
Paras is survived by his wife, Jean, and their five children. Funeral services will be Wednesday at noon at the Taylorsville 14th Ward. Interment will be at Larkin Sunset Gardens.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
