Obituary: Vincent Chianese / Pizza maker extraordinaire
J. Wellington Wimpy
it,
and when I moved away from Pittsburgh, I always made a stop at
Vincent's Pizza Park on any visits back.
Obituary: Vincent Chianese / Pizza maker extraordinaire
March 2, 1925 - March 7, 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
By Karamagi Rujumba, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Vincent Chianese, who became a Pittsburgh icon after more than five
decades of owning and operating the renowned Vincent's Pizza Park,
died Sunday at Forbes Regional Hospital in Monroeville.
He was 85.
Henrietta Dahmen and Marlene King, a mother and daughter who worked
for Mr. Chianese at both his Forest Hills and Plum stores for many
years, said he had been in poor health in the last few years and
recently underwent gallbladder surgery. They said he died from
complications of ailments related to old age.
The son of an Italian father and a French Canadian mother, Mr.
Chianese became famous for his "Vinnie Pie"-- its thick crust piled
with all kinds of toppings oozing with his own sauce. He opened the
Ardmore Boulevard store in 1950 and operated it and others stores
until 2005, when he sold the controlling interest.
"Making pizza was more than just a business for him. It was his
life,"
said Ms. Dahmen, 84, who started working for Mr. Chianese in 1953 and
like him, spent about five decades twirling chunks of pizza dough in
the air.
And it was for his pies that Mr. Chianese not only gained quite a
following among Pittsburgh-area patrons, but also landed a role
making
pizza in the 1988 movie "Dominick and Eugene," which was partly
filmed
in his store.
"He was quite the character," Ms. Dahmen recalled. "He worked seven
days a week and he almost never took a day off. He just enjoyed what
he did and because of it, he got to know a lot of his customers."
Gerard Boscia was one of those customers. Over the years, he
frequented Vincent's Pizza Park and even had pies delivered out of
state.
"My family started going to his store when I was 7 years old," said
Mr. Boscia, 60, of Verona. "I remember when I moved to Florida for
some years, I would have my brother pick me up a pie when he came to
visit."
Ms. King, who started working for Mr. Chianese at age 14, and spent
about eight years -- interspersed between school summer breaks and
other jobs -- working for him, recalled that it was not unusual for
pies to be sent by overnight courier to customers as far away as
Alaska.
Mr. Chianese started making pizzas while working for his uncle in San
Francisco in 1947. He returned to Pittsburgh and went to work a night
shift as a fireman for Union Railroad until he had saved enough money
to open the small parlor on Ardmore.
His wife, Edith, preceded him in death. Surviving are his daughter
Toni Zolner and two grandchildren of Glendale, Calif., where Mr.
Chianese will be buried. Also surviving are his sisters Louise
Chianese of Pittsburgh and Josephine Chianese of New York City.
A number of former employees and friends have planned a get-together
from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday at Vincent's Pizza Park, 998 Ardmore
Blvd., Forest Hills, to pay tribute to Mr. Chianese.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10071/1042209-122.stm#ixzz0hy1eARss