A family tradition: Zaboracs celebrate 50 years of operating Kent Bowl

Jack Zaborac doesn’t necessarily consider it retirement, but the patriarch of Kent’s long-standing bowling family is stepping aside.

“I might try Phoenix,” said the man affectionately known as “Zab” around iconic Kent Bowl for 50 years. “But I don’t think I will ever retire unless the good Lord takes me first.”

A month shy of his 87th birthday, the charismatic Zab is ready to spend more time elsewhere, perhaps watch his Thoroughbreds dart on the dirt at Arizona’s Turf Paradise under the winter sun.

As part of his daily routine, Zab plans to occasionally check up on things at the 54-year-old alley, but knows it’s in the capable hands of his son and sidekick. Dennis Zaborac, now 63, has managed the place off and on since he first tagged along with his father at the alley when he was 13.

“I once gave him a three-year notice,” said Dennis, who left the alley temporarily to successfully establish and run his own software business. “He didn’t think I could make it on the outside … and he didn’t think he could make it on the inside without me.”

Turns out, they managed just fine.

Over time, father and son would come full circle and reunite in their passion to keep a Kent tradition going.

The bowling alley, a Kent landmark on Central Avenue North, has aged well. The alley – built in 1958 while livestock grazed in pastures next to it – has since expanded to 32 lanes and adapted to technological change.

Despite the many ups and downs of the economy, a diverse and competitive entertainment climate and a changing, aging customer base, Kent Bowl has persevered.

“And I have my loyal customers to thank for that,” Zab said. “I’ve had a lot of devoted customers. I take pride in that.”

Those customers will join the Zaborac family in celebrating its 50 years of business on Sunday. The golden anniversary runs 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. with $1 dollar bowling, food and beverages.

Zab has come far since he first took on a managerial role at the alley.

He grew up in Illinois, the ninth of 10 children in a Croatian coal-mining family. His first exposure to bowling came at the age of 12, when he had a job for $2.50 per week setting pins in a local alley.

A high school dropout, Zaborac enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served overseas during World War II. He later took an entry-level job at Boeing and worked his way up through the engineering department. It was at the company, at the age of 27, that he first discovered his love for bowling.

A Boeing shakeup put Zab in a different spot. Unhappy in the new job, he turned to a new career in bowling.

A group of investors had bought Kent Bowl, in the same location as today, to keep it from going out of business, and they hired Zaborac to manage the place.

“I came here as a $600-a-month manager in 1962,” he said. “I had a good job at Boeing, but they had transferred me into a job where I didn’t have much to do. I found plenty to do here.”

It was a struggle at first, but Zab found his niche. Through persistence and hard work, Zab and his family made it work. Zab and his wife, Vivian, worked “hand in hand. I wouldn’t have made it without her.”

Vivian died in 2000 from cancer.

Zab said one of the features he and his wife started that kept Kent Bowl together over the decades was the Kent Bowl tournament. When the couple first started the tournament there was 100 entries and at the height Kent Bowl pulled in 8,700 entries and the tournament lasted 16 weeks.

Zab has enjoyed sharing his love of bowling with others, not only as a manager and owner of an alley, but as a player and teacher.

Having left his legacy, Zab knows his family business will continue for future generations to enjoy. Zab still plans to stick around for as long as he can.

“I’ve had a good life here,” he said.