Local politician and former restaurateur dies at 71 after battle with cancer
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ST. ANTHONY – Friends and family are mourning the loss of a local politician and longtime owner of Chiz’s Restaurant in St. Anthony.
L. Scott Kamachi passed away on Wednesday, March 12, after a long battle with esophageal cancer. He was 71. In a conversation with EastIdahoNews.com, his wife, Glenda, says Kamachi died nine years to the day that Chiz’s closed for the last time.
RELATED | A fond farewell to Chiz’s on its final day
Glenda says her husband’s death is a bittersweet occasion.
“I hate that he’s gone, but I’m grateful he’s not in pain anymore,” she says.
Kamachi’s funeral is Wednesday, March 19 at 11 a.m. It’s happening at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stake center in St. Anthony. A public viewing will be held at the stake center the day before from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., as well as before the funeral on Wednesday from 10 to 10:45 a.m.
Kamachi was serving as a Fremont County Commissioner at the time of his death. He was in the third year of his second term. He also served on the St. Anthony City Council for about 17 years.
Through laughter, Kamachi’s son, Ryan, describes his dad as a passionate man. Whatever he was involved in, Ryan says he was excited about it.
“A phrase that he would often tell us is ‘Do it right or do it again,'” Ryan recalls. “He lived by that … and was well-known for his convictions.”
Kamachi was also involved in sports and enjoyed hunting, fishing and golf, according to his obituary. He learned to play the guitar, drums and “anything he could tap his hands on to start a beat.”
Finding success in the restaurant industry
Kamachi was born on January 16, 1954, to Mike and Chiz Kamachi. He graduated from South Fremont High School in 1972 and went on to attend Idaho State University, where he studied psychology and political science.
Kamachi’s parents opened the Chinese restaurant in 1968 under the name Star Cafe. It later became Chiz’s and Scott took it over in the late 1970s.
Ryan says running the restaurant was not Scott’s preferred vocation.
“He wanted to be a psychologist to help people,” says Ryan. “In the 70s, the restaurant wasn’t doing well and he came to help close it down, not to save it.”
As Ryan recalls, business started to pick up after they made a few changes and Scott realized it could still be successful. He eventually branched out into catering, which led to the creation of Chiz’s salad dressing. It’s sold in grocery stores today under a different name.
Scott found success in the restaurant industry, but his dream of becoming a psychiatrist never did pan out.
Though Ryan and his siblings expressed interest in taking over the restaurant one day, Scott would not entertain the idea.
“He was very closed off to it and told me, ‘Absolutely not!'” Ryan says.
It wasn’t until years later that Ryan learned the reason for his dad’s unwillingness to sell it to him.
“It was because of the amount of time the business required for it to be successful. He wanted better for his family. He told me it cost him a couple marriages and the ability to go to sporting events we were involved in — he never got to go to any of those because he was busy running the restaurant.”
Scott had been married twice before marrying Glenda Chapple in 1998. Scott and his second wife, Robin, had three children together, including Cade, Ryan and Tressa.
Steve Smith and Marc Sunderland offered to buy the restaurant in 2016. It closed a short time later when the partnership dissolved and Smith decided to focus on selling Chiz’s dressing exclusively. Glenda says the building is now occupied by apartments.
Kamachi’s public service
Ryan says running for public office was a natural fit for his dad because politics was always something he was interested in. Kamachi served on the St. Anthony City Council beginning in 2002 and first ran as a Fremont County Commissioner in 2019.
“He had a great love for St. Anthony and Fremont County,” Glenda says.
Glenda credits her husband with the creation of the Idaho Department of Correction’s St. Anthony Work Camp and improvements at the St. Anthony Airport.
As a city councilman, Cade says his dad was one of the architects for St. Anthony Planning and Zoning’s central plan for commercial and residential growth.
“The general plan that the city uses to do all of its planning for where they’re going to allow growth, where they’re going to allow residencies, how they’re going to provide utilities — all of that comes under a central plan for a city,” Cade says. “One of the big things he worked on was architecting that plan.”
His proudest accomplishment as a commissioner, according to Glenda, is the creation of a new landfill in Newdale benefitting Madison, Fremont, Teton and Clark counties.
RELATED | Local landfill 14 years in the making will serve 80,000 people in four counties
Though none of Scott’s children have a desire to run for public office, they appreciate their dad’s example of public service and love for his community.
Ryan says his dad had a deep respect for law enforcement and firefighters. Today, Ryan is an officer with the Rexburg Police Department.
“A large amount of my drive to go into that field came from my upbringing and all the values dad instilled in me,” says Ryan.
Ryan says neither he or his siblings would be successful without their dad’s work ethic and example. They’re going to miss him dearly.
“He’s one of those individuals who always tried to do the right thing, even if and when it cost him,” says Cade. “There are things I witnessed him do and he made sure none of the recognition would come back to him. It was always done in the shadows and I will always miss that example.”
This week, Fremont County Sheriff Bart Quayle posted a photo on Facebook of him and Kamachi shaking hands. He recalled an experience he had with Kamachi at age 14 that has always stuck with him.
“I was washing dishes late one night at the Silver Horseshoe. Not many patrons paid the dishwasher much mind, but he stopped in the kitchen, told me thank you and handed me a $10 bill. I have never forgotten that interaction,” Quayle wrote. “About 33 years later, he pushed his own challenges aside and gave me the great honor of this moment — a true mark of selflessness and leadership.”
“He was a great man,” Glenda adds. “He could be very hard to deal with at times … but he was strong in his convictions. You always knew he was the way he was because of how much he cared. I’m going to miss his odd sense of humor and his love of life.”
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