PAUL ENDICH: A Life 796 words
A life is not captured by a list of a person’s activities and accomplishments; it is the way that
those activities are performed- the art of the living. There is no better example of this than the
life of Paul Endich, who died at home on Wednesday, March 10, 2021, after a long illness.
Until his retirement in 2016, Paul had one job his entire life. In 1973, fresh out of the Army (he
was drafted in 1971: “the only lottery I ever won!” he always said), he came to the Cape and
bought the Penney Patch candy store. (He actually had a store in Wellfleet as well as
Provincetown, but that store burned down in 1976.) So for 43 seasons he ran the Penney Patch, at
the same location, on the southeast corner of Commercial and Ryder Streets, catty-cornered from
Town Hall.
What kind of person has the same job for his entire life? Working until 11 every night. How
could he stand it? To understand, you had to be there; you had to see him in his store, see him
perform. The store was his stage. A steady stream of customers would come through the door-
the old people off the tour buses, their name tags dangling, the families with children, the newly-
independent pre-teens making some of their first purchases with their own money- serious
deliberations.
Oh, the choices: twenty different kinds of fudge, and all the varieties of candy: old favorites like
Hershey bars, candy cigarettes, wax lips, “razzles”, “bullseyes”, and newer, hipper, sour things.
Paul greeted everyone as if he were glad to see them- because he was. He had a joke for
everybody and a welcoming laugh. All that attention to people- because he loved people. He
could tally up the sale (five of these at 25 cents, a dozen of these at fifty…) and still maintain the
banter. The average sale was about six dollars. (“Welcome to the Penney Patch, where a five-
cent penny candy now costs a quarter!”) And people remembered him. People would tell him
that they had been there as kids and were now bringing their kids. And there were lots of
freeloaders who pounced on the slivers of free fudge samples, while Paul looked on smiling.
And it was not only the customers. Over those 43 years probably hundreds of local kids had their
first jobs at the Penney Patch. It was a rite-of-passage, a terrific learning experience, and a
window on the world.
For all the thousands of people who came into the store, many more thousands walked by and
gazed at Paul’s tall bearded figure standing in the front window, stirring the fudge in an
enormous aged copper kettle- he was the real deal. It was a sight to remember, a brief glimpse of
authenticity in a honky-tonk world.
Out of the store, it was the same. He is not the only person to be called “the mayor of
Provincetown”, but he certainly was a contender for the title. Paul was on a first-name basis
with everybody, even if he did not know their names. He had a genuine love for people and it
showed. It could be the Town Manager or Freddie Rocha: it didn’t matter to Paul- he was
accessible. His gift was making you feel as if you had been friends for ages.
His true friends were his fellow Beachcombers. Paul was a proud Beachcomber; he loved being
at the club on a Saturday night, and he was beloved there. His laugh resounded in that hallowed
space, even if the joke was mediocre. He is the latest cruel casualty in an organization that has
suffered many losses in the last year or so. He was also a member of the Lion’s Club, and
enjoyed their meetings as well.When he retired, his children took over the business, and his son David is the principal operator now.
In retirement Paul drove for Art’s Dune Tours, worked at PAAM (Provincetown Art
Association and Museum) and the Wydah museum: all people-person jobs. He also served on
the board of Provincetown Arts Magazine. Still, he often had time for a shot and a beer with his
children at his favorite haunt, the Old Colony Tap- what a good dad.
Paul is survived by his wife Patty Burke, daughter Tamara, and her husband Marshall Burke (no
relation to Patty), son David, step-daughter Erin Burke-Webster and her husband Trevor Mack,
and brother Sylvan Endich and his wife Alceste Pappas. He is also survived by the mother of his
children, Roberta Solomon Endich.
A celebration of Paul’s life will be announced for later this year. Donations in his memory can
be made to Hospice of Cape Cod or HOW (Helping Our Women).
A special thanks to Dennis Minsky for assisting our family in the preparation of the tribute for our beloved Paul.