Antonio “Tony” Brogna, an icon of the Marblehead community who ran Tony’s Pizza for over 40 years, died Feb. 11 at age 70 after battling dementia. Friends and local officials say he leaves behind a legacy as a hardworking man who treated every customer like his own family.
“The heart of Tony’s was a gentle and generous man,” said Town Moderator Jack Attridge. “The legacy and lessons of family and hard work was felt by generations who gathered with family and friends at Tony’s. A true loss for our town.”
Brogna emigrated from Italy to Lynn in 1969 before opening Tony’s Pizza in Marblehead in 1981 with his wife, Patricia. It wasn’t smooth sailing.
“When they first opened the store, one of the challenges was me, my dad and my brother all came down with the chickenpox at the same time, about a month after they opened,” Brogna’s daughter, Christina Moore, told the Current. “My mom ended up having to run the store herself and she’s not a pizza maker. Friends and family ended up coming and sent to help their mom make dough and help out as Tony recovered.”
Moore added, “So when we say it’s a family business and a family affair, it really is.”
Tony’s Pizza soon became a staple of the so-called Five Corners intersection and frequented by locals.
Those who knew Brogna remember him as an “old fashioned” and “wonderful” businessman who genuinely cared about his employees and customers.
“I’ve known Tony for years. We were both restaurant owners, and I would go in all the time to have a slice of pizza or some spaghetti and meatballs, and we would share stories about running businesses in Marblehead,” said Sheila Duncan, former owner of Maddie’s Sail Loft restaurant. “He was a wonderful, wonderful guy. Really old-school restaurant type.”
She said Brogna’s giving spirit was embodied by his annual donations to Duncan’s fundraiser supporting her Trouble the Dog Foundation.
Photographer Rick Ashley rented studio space above Tony’s from Brogna for several years and formed a close friendship, helping him after a devastating fire destroyed the original Tony’s Pizza building in 2003.
Ashley, who lost everything in the fire, was there alongside Brogna.
“Tony and I spent essentially every day together as that building came down.” A decade later, Ashley still displays burnt cameras from his destroyed photography studio at his new studio, reminding him of that traumatic time.
“We were not just landlord and tenant,” Ashley said. “We were close.”
Tony rebuilt and reopened Tony’s Pizza in 2005 thanks to community support.
“I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” Brogna said, recalling the 2003 fire, in a Marblehead Reporter article. “It was a mess.”
His son, Anthony Brogna, said Tony didn’t cut corners.
“If he was gonna do something,” Anthony Brogna, “he did it right.”
Tony Brogna had a playful side, too, flipping and twirling pizza dough, his son said, for kids.
“Another thing that he got a kick out of was when kids were in the store. He would like to give them an order of fried dough dots, so they got a little extra treat,” said Anthony.
Just as the community rallied around Tony then, it has come together again to honor his life and legacy after his passing. A large card with notes from patrons could be seen on a table inside Tony’s Pizza on Saturday.
As for the future of Tony’s Pizza?
“The plan is to keep it going,” said Patricia Brogna. “It might take me a little bit longer, but right now I’ll be keeping the shop.”
The Brognas shared a 47-year marriage. In addition to his wife and children, he is survived by his siblings Maria, Gennaro, Federico, Angelina, Julie and Carlo, as well as five grandchildren.
“A very hardworking man that always had a smile, a kind word and treated everyone like family,” as Select Board member Jim Nye described him. “A Marblehead icon. May Tony rest in peace.”
A wake will be held Wednesdsay, Feb. 21, 4 p.m.-7 p.m., at Solimine Funeral Home, 426 Broadway, Lynn, with the funeral on Thursday, Feb. 22, at St. Pius V at 10:30 a.m. Burial will follow in Puritan Lawn Memorial Park, Peabody. Relatives and friends are invited to attend.
Donations in Tony’s memory may be made to Kaplan Family Hospice House, 78 Liberty St., Danvers 01923. Directions and online guestbook at solimine.com.
