'Pat' Farsworth, Built Pizza Chain, 93
DGH
Carl "Pat" Farnsworth, a Maine pizza legend and owner of the Pat's Pizza
franchise, died of pneumonia Thursday, February 13, 2003, in his Orono,
Maine, home, at the age of 93.
Mr. Farnsworth worked 12 hours a day, seven days a week, up until his
90th birthday, and became a local legend.
"He was very hard-working and was in here every night for years," said
David Hodsdon, grill cook at the Orono restaurant. "Tourists would come
in here and they thought he was this fictional character ... People were
shocked when they could go downstairs and meet him."
Mr. Farnsworth started Farnsworth's Cafe in Orono with $150 in 1931.
Originally selling ice cream and other confections, he added pizza to
the menu in 1953. It was an instant success, such that he turned the
cafe into a pizza parlor and renamed it Pat's Pizza. Now the franchise,
known for its fresh dough and special sauce developed by Mr. Farnsworth
and his late wife, Francis (King), has grown to include 13 locations,
from Sanford to Presque Isle.
"People return to Orono with that one thing in mind, and that's going to
Pat's," said Lianne Harris, who chairs the town council. "From
politicians to the man on the street, it was for everyone. This place
couldn't be imitated - there's nothing like this."
Marked with an aging neon sign and an old-fashioned soda fountain bar,
the Orono restaurant has stayed the same for decades, despite the
changes outside its original glass-and-metal front doors.
"The place is really a landmark in Orono," Harris said. "It's a place
that hasn't changed."
"Anybody who has been to Orono or gone to the University of Maine in the
last 50 years has gone to Pat's."
Mr. Farnsworth was born in Harrington, Maine. He grew up in Orono and
graduated from high school there in 1928. Three years later, he
purchased the Mill Street ice cream parlor with money saved from his
summer job at the Lookout Hotel in Ogunquit. The ice cream parlor
evolved to include a lunch counter and soda fountain in the 1940s.
Mr. Farnsworth married his wife June 16, 1938. And he worked almost
every day of their 62-year marriage, closing the restaurant only for
Christmas, Thanksgiving, and July Fourth.
Often seen around town with a cigar in his mouth and white suspenders
hanging from his waist, Mr. Farnsworth knew almost every resident by
name.
"Everyone was always happy to see him," said Hodsdon, who has worked the
grill at Pat's since 1995.
Mr. Farnsworth was involved in other business ventures, including White
Canoe Co. in Old Town, the Orono Bowling Alley, the Shamrock Tavern, a
large pig farm in Old Town, and a trucking and a rubbish collection
company for Old Town, Orono, and Bangor.
He enjoyed gardening and was a Red Sox fan.
"He knew I was a Red Sox fan and when I couldn't watch the game at night
he'd call me from the upstairs office and let me know how they were
doing every couple innings," Hodsdon said. "I thought it was strange
someone would take the time to do this. But that was Pat."
Mr. Farnsworth's son Bruce, of Orono, now runs the family business and
worked at the restaurant on the night of his father's death.
"I told my sister, 'I've got to go in.'" he told a local reporter.
"That's what he'd do."
Dave B
"DGH" <peri...@eudoramail.com> wrote in message
news:3E4E3CF...@eudoramail.com...
Talk about "I love my job". A lot of good it did him to work till 90. Sounds
like his son is the same way, money hungry. You'd think he would have at
least closed on the day of the funeral out of respect for his father.
Dave B
- - - - - - - -
It was long ago and it was far away, and it was so much better than it is
today.
Louis Epstein
: "DGH" <peri...@eudoramail.com> wrote in message
: news:3E4E3CF...@eudoramail.com...
:>
:> Carl "Pat" Farnsworth, a Maine pizza legend and owner of the Pat's Pizza
:> franchise, died of pneumonia Thursday, February 13, 2003, in his Orono,
:> Maine, home, at the age of 93.
:>
:> Mr. Farnsworth worked 12 hours a day, seven days a week, up until his
:> 90th birthday, and became a local legend.
[snip]
:> Mr. Farnsworth's son Bruce, of Orono, now runs the family business and
:> worked at the restaurant on the night of his father's death.
:>
:> "I told my sister, 'I've got to go in.'" he told a local reporter.
:> "That's what he'd do."
: Talk about "I love my job". A lot of good it did him to work till 90.
Quite possibly,yes.
: Sounds
: like his son is the same way, money hungry. You'd think he would have at
: least closed on the day of the funeral out of respect for his father.
Sounds to me like respect for his father meant NOT closing
the restaurant,and the son would know the father's wishes
better than you would.However,the day of the death is not
the day of the funeral anyway.
-=-=-
The World Trade Center towers MUST rise again,
at least as tall as before...or terror has triumphed.
Dave B
"Louis Epstein" <lep...@PUF.FCC.NET> wrote in message
news:vKycnct80M1...@fcc.net...
Working on the day of his father's death is even worse! What a jerk.
Dave B