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Popular pizza delivery man dies
By BRIAN PORTER/Managing Editor
Tim Fitzgerald, known to most simply as “The Big Guy,” may never have been a household name.
“They may not have known his name, but if people saw him they would recognize him,” said Abdul Hemani, general manager of Pizza Inn at 3003 North Galloway.
Fitzgerald, 40, died March 20. He spent about half his life making and delivering pizzas in Mesquite. He drew a following. In 11 years, it is believed Fitzgerald may have delivered more than 43,000 pizzas to homes in Mesquite.
Turnover in the restaurant business often means your pizza delivery person may change from month to month, but not with Fitzgerald. He seemed to be a constant.
“He always had cheese and peppers and was always very organized,” Nelson said.
Fitzgerald and Nelson were the longest-tenured employees at the Pizza Inn location in Mesquite. He began as a cook and grew into a delivery driver. He also had management duties.
“This is the first time someone has passed away since we have owned this Pizza Inn,” Abdul said. “As a family, we are hurting.”
“There’s a professional relationship and also a personal relationship,” said Rahim Hemani, manager of Pizza Inn. “We always just talked about our families and how the day was going.”
On Monday, the Pizza Inn location closed for a memorial service inside the restaurant. A customer of Fitzgerald’s, Mike Middlebrooks, who happens to be a local pastor, led the service. Outside on the marquis, where normally a special of the week might be advertised, the community learned their pizza delivery man known as “The Big Guy” had died.
“Tim was always the first one to tell me ‘Happy Birthday.’ He was always the first to tell you that you looked nice,” Nelson said. “When he was a cook during the early years, there were customers that would only allow him to make their pizzas. He was a fixture here. He was on a first-name basis with customers and the others just knew him as ‘The Big Guy.’ ”
Table No. 70 has been named “Tim’s Table” in the restaurant in honor of Fitzgerald. Anyone wishing to make a donation to Fitzgerald is asked to do so by calling Pizza Inn at 972-686-7861 or by visiting the restaurant and speaking with Abdul Hemani.
E-mail Brian Porter at bporter@acnpapers.com or comment on this story at www.scntx.com.
The following are comments from the readers.
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
Oliver Renshaw wrote on Apr 6, 2008 3:40 AM:
" Tim was a special part of our wrestling message boards, he was cherished and adored and was one of our best members, an admin who had been there from the start.
It was not fair that Tim had to die before his time. I am sad for his family, friends and colleagues at Pizza Inn.
Tim had friends all over the world, and you probably don't know this.
RIP Tim, you will always be remembered at WrestleCrazy.
Ollie "
It was not fair that Tim had to die before his time. I am sad for his family, friends and colleagues at Pizza Inn.
Tim had friends all over the world, and you probably don't know this.
RIP Tim, you will always be remembered at WrestleCrazy.
Ollie "
Ms HBK wrote on Apr 6, 2008 4:35 AM:
" I was so sad to hear that Tim had passed away. He hadn't been around for a while, and we all noticed and worried about him, and being in the UK and beyond we couldn't just pop over and check. Tim was admired around the world, He'll be missed more than he could ever know. Thanks for the article. "
Anthony Gair wrote on Apr 6, 2008 6:56 AM:
" Tim was a complete legend...
He knew everything that you ever needed to know and was the one person you could talk too about absolutely anything!
I'm from Sunderland England, and all of us at Wrestlecrazy.com are absolutely flabbergasted by the news.
So saddened by the loss of Tim
Love you mate! "
He knew everything that you ever needed to know and was the one person you could talk too about absolutely anything!
I'm from Sunderland England, and all of us at Wrestlecrazy.com are absolutely flabbergasted by the news.
So saddened by the loss of Tim
Love you mate! "
Waylon wrote on Apr 7, 2008 8:53 PM:
" Tim was a special friend of mine when I worked at Pizza Inn in high school. We would go to movies on our days off and close together on weekends. He was on of my best friends through out the years. I would always hang out on Sundays with him at PING on Sundays when I was going through college. Now, I am married and moved off to a different city, and would visit him form time to time. Tim never stopped being my friend, he was and will always be.
"
"
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He was one of the administrators on the site and all of the members on the site looked up to the big guy. We dont consider ourself members we are all friends. To hear about his death was a massive shot in the heart, but we are very grateful we got to know the guy because without him there would be no WrestleCrazy...
RIP Tim. 1967 - 2008 "