Clarence Shima, founder of Shima's Market in Waimanalo — a store that sold everything from horse feed to fresh fish — died Monday. He was 93.

"He had a full life," said Renee Shima Evans, Shima's daughter. "People all around him said he was full of life."

Shima, whose birth name was Shimabukuro until he shortened it, opened Shima's Market in its present location on Kalaniana'ole Highway in 1969. Before that store, Shima operated the Waimanalo Market, a plantation store that he bought in 1947 and ran until a fire destroyed it in 1967.

"We always offered healthcare and a pension and profit-sharing to all the full-time employees," Evans said. "That's from a small business. That was my dad."

From day one, it was a family operation, Evans said. Her brother Clayton was in charge of the produce. Under his leadership, the store developed a reputation for fresh produce that was hand-picked. Her brother Clifford was the store accountant. Renee was in charge of the wine, and her brother Ron was the store manager.

When Evans' mother was alive, she was behind the customer-service counter and would cook up food that hadn't sold and make potato salad or soup and sell it.

"It was a family effort," Evans said. "My mom and dad worked long hours to make it a success."

Until just a few years ago, Shima would go to the store daily, just to check it out and to make small purchases.

When Shima was 88, he was selected as the grand marshal for the annual Waimanalo Christmas Parade. He often had a soft spot for community groups that he would help out with donations of goods or cash.

The elder Shima bowed out of the business in the mid-1990s when his three sons and daughter took over the operations of the 8,000-square-foot store. In late 2008, the family sold the store to Times Supermarket. The store still looks much the same.

"The store was our fifth sibling," Evans said. "The business was very important to our family. Often over dinner, or lunch, there was always a discussion about the store."

He is survived by sons, Ron, Clayton and Clifford; daughter, Renee; sister, Yukiko Nakasone; and brothers, Kiyoshi Shimabukuro and Nobu Shima.