The Watson ‘family,’ related both by blood and by professional extension, at the Idaho-Oregon Fruit & Vegetable Association conference in June. Left to right are Faere Watson, Brad Watson, Margie Watson, Jon Watson, Diane Sutherland, Marc Asumendi, Val Asumendi, Terry Willis, Chelsea Peden, Kent Sutherland, Jamie Anderson and Jim Anderson.When it comes to living and working in — and also giving back to — one’s hometown, the best apples don’t fall far from the bountiful tree at J.C. Watson Co. in Parma, ID.

Founded in 1912 by James Christopher Watson, an Iowa pharmacist who by chance invested from afar in Idaho apple orchards, J.C. Watson today is in its fourth generation and is a leading Treasure Valley onion grower-shipper known for its state-of-the-art farming and packing technology.

And so, with more than 500 close friends, company employees, business associates and those affectionately referred to as “worthy competitors” sharing in the Jim Watson, a member of the Idaho-Eastern Oregon Onion Marketing Committee Hall of Fame, who was inducted posthumously in 2000.festivities, company President Jon Watson, himself a member of the third generation, acknowledged the next two generations of the family at a 100-year celebration given in true Treasure Valley style — big, bright and bountiful.

Included in the Aug. 4 anniversary gala were tours of the operation’s fields and facility, winery tours and an open house with a catered dinner and multi-media presentation.

The open house was staged at J.C. Watson headquarters in downtown Parma, ID, at the same site where the company got its start in 1912. The event served to honor the early 20th century efforts of the founder and his own offspring while also showcasing the remarkable and ongoing advancements the centenarian operation continues in its growing, packing and shipping of Idaho-Eastern Oregon Spanish Sweets.

J.C. Watson’s launch was perhaps serendipitous, but its growth has always been well planned.

In the first decade of the 20th century, during his first career as a pharmacist, J.C. Watson was convinced by fellow Iowan E.G. Johnson to buy two five-acre tracts planted in apple trees.

Mr. Johnson had previously moved to Idaho and started an apple company, and in 1911 Mr. Watson and his wife, Emma, traveled Packing J.C. Watson produce onto rail cars in Parma, ID.to the area to check on their investment. The visit was part of a tour of the West in which the Watsons visited towns in Colorado, Utah and California, where they might settle and raise their family.

Just a brief stay in Parma changed those plans, and in short order the couple decided to call the little Idaho town home.

J.C. Watson hired on with E.G. Johnson, and after one week Mr. Johnson saw the pharmacist emerge as a produce man. After being in Parma for a matter of days, Mr. Watson found himself in charge of the loan division of the orchard company. In that position he helped other settlers get a start in the area, and as his produce acumen bloomed, Mr. Watson became a community leader as well.

It was through his and others’ efforts that the original irrigation systems were established. He also helped finance homes, orchards and packingsheds in the fertile region.

His own business was launched just a year after his arrival, and Mr. Watson set up a packingshed that handled not only apples but lettuce, peas, plums, and other fruits and vegetables.

Mr. Watson’s entrepreneurial spirit was the driving force behind initial full-car shipments of produce out of the valley. In his first year, he saw 16 full cars sent out. By 1927, 627 cars were shipped, and by 1951, the year of his death, J.C. Watson was shipping 1,800 railcars annually.

“My grandfather and my father were true pioneers,” Jon Watson said of the company’s beginnings. “It’s because of their true and spontaneous Onion sorting in the early days at J.C. Watson Co.innovations.”

J.C. Watson also built the first platform outside a railcar to facilitate packing lettuce.

In 1929, J.C. Watson Co. became a trading member of the Blue Book, and it is the only onion shipper with that longevity and status. Then in the mid-1930s, 20 years after its founding, J.C. Watson began to narrow its focus to apples, onions and early russet potatoes, and for many years it continued in that mode.

During World War II, the company continued shipping, providing produce to a hungry nation. And in the early 1950s James Frederick Watson, son of J.C. and Emma, rose to the head of the operation.

As did his father, Jim Watson found himself immersed not only in the region’s produce industry but also in its civic events. After his father’s death in 1951, Jim led the grower-shipper operation ably and also served on numerous boards and commissions, holding the offices of Parma mayor and trustee of Idaho State University.

Jim and his wife, Dolpha Mae, had six children: Liz, Cheryl, Candy, Rick, Jon and DeeDee. And J.C. Watson was a thriving grower-packer-shipper of potatoes, apples, cherries and sweet Spanish onions.

Jon Watson joined the family business in 1973 after earning degrees in business and applied engineering from the University of Idaho. Sherise Jones, marketing director for the Idaho-Eastern Oregon Onion Committee, and Emily Watson Libsack.Following his father’s death in 1991, Jon assumed leadership of J.C. Watson. He and wife, Margie, have two children, Brad and Emily. Brad is the fourth generation to work in the company, and Emily is a seed marketing specialist whose produce roots run deeply and parallel to that of the family business.

Margie Watson, who herself served as Parma mayor, said that with her union to Jon came the joys and responsibilities of civic leadership, citing Jon’s time as a volunteer firefighter and his multiple roles in area organizations.

“All Watsons are doers,” Margie said.

Emily concurred, saying, “There is no other option. Everyone in the family is a doer, getting things accomplished.”

That trait was perhaps never more evident than in 2000. The previous year saw huge losses in the onion market, but Jon Watson was determined to stay the course and chose to expand and renovate the Parma packingshed. The payoff came when J.C. Watson was able to maintain its ground and also move ahead during a time other shippers were departing the industry.

Another risky move that paid off was the stickering of individual onions, which J.C. Watson began doing in 2005. Today it’s an industry practice, but initially it was met with considerable reservation by other onion sheds.

In recent years the company has established specific goals, and in 2005 its focus was put entirely on year-round supplies of onions. Brad came on in 2009 as vice president of operations, bringing his mechanical engineering expertise to the fore.

Two years ago, Jon Watson in the new test kitchen at J.C. Watson Co. in Parma, ID.the Watson family formed J.C. Watson Packing Co. and Watson Agriculture Inc., and the two new companies dovetail with the long-established onion company.

The 2012 season includes the adoption of Global Food Safety Standards auditing at both the packing facility and on the family’s farm, and Brad Watson said, “We also continue our produce testing through Certified Onions Inc. and other labs, and we are integrating produce traceability labeling. We are implementing these improvements tailored to our customers’ need.”

An additional technological advancement in 2012 is the sustainability biofumigants and cover crops.

“The cover crops increase the nutrients overall by the building of organic soil, and many of them ward off pests naturally; crops such as radishes and mustard seeds accomplish that, and we have a 60-acre plot slated for trial,” Brad Watson said.

The packingshed, with a new color sorter, is also being upgraded for small bag packing capacity to improve shed flow.

Jim Watson, whose leadership of J.C. Watson and contributions to the produce industry and the community at large are well-known, was honored by the Idaho Fruit & Vegetable Association in 2012, and the immediate and extended family took part in the huge celebration that filled Parma’s downtown on Aug. 4.

During the opening moments of the video presentation, Idaho Lt. Gov. Brad Little congratulated the Watson family and lauded its values as “ones that have served Idaho well.” Lt. Gov. Little said that the Watson name is synonymous with being “a good person, honoring your word and being a good steward.”

Today J.C. Watson Co. sells approximately 200 million packages of onions annually to markets worldwide.

Stewardship was clearly J.C. Watson’s motivation, and the consensus at the centennial anniversary was that he would be well pleased to see where his 10 acres of apples have taken his offspring. They’ve not rolled far from the family tree, most would say.