Elizabeth Mary Missimi

Elizabeth A. Missimi was a gracious hostess and a talented cook who enjoyed welcoming visitors to the Kent restaurant that she and her family operated for 55 years. Mrs. Missimi worked side by side with her husband, Anthony, in a partnership that endured throughout their long marriage and extended far beyond the kitchen. Her family said she was "the heart and soul" of Missimi's Restaurant, which was the oldest family-operated establishment of its type in Portage County when it closed in 2003 when the Missimis were both in their 80s. Mrs. Missimi died Tuesday, March 2, 2010, at Akron City Hospital after being in declining health for about four weeks. She was 88. Born Sept. 25, 1921 in Kent, Elizabeth Mandalari Missimi lived her entire life in the Tree City, where she was born to an Italian immigrant family that grew to include 10 children. She grew up as part of a family business. Her parents, Bruno and Nancy Mandalari, operated a grocery store in what is now the Franklin Avenue entertainment district. The store later became the Moon Nite Club, which is where she met her future husband, who would become her partner in the family business that they shared for more than a half-century. Anthony "Tony" Missimi was a drummer in his own orchestra and romance blossomed between the two after he played an engagement at the nightclub. They married in 1945 and Tony Missimi went to work at Lamb Electric Co. in Kent. A few years later, the couple opened a restaurant on what was then S.R. 5 on the outskirts of Kent, near the Stow border. They dubbed it The Oasis Drive-In in honor of the tent that Tony had lived in overseas during his World War II service in the U.S. Army Air Corps. The menu was an eclectic one. It featured homemade Italian spaghetti and meatballs, based on one of Mrs. Missimi's family recipes, foot-long hotdogs and homemade milkshakes at affordable prices. There was curb service and limited seating. The young married couple lived on the premises; their dining room did double duty as a serving area for dine-in customers. Tony Missimi continued to work at Lamb Electric during the early years of the restaurant and Mrs. Missimi managed the cooking and other duties until the business grew to the point where he could devote himself to it full-time. Together, the Missimis forged a business partnership that made the family restaurant one of the most successful in Kent. "One of my mother's greatest joys was feeding people," said Mrs. Missimi's daughter, Debby, who begin working with her parents as a child and remained at the restaurant until it closed. "To be able to prepare a meal for you - she just loved doing that." Debby Missimi and her brother, Dennis, who also worked in the family business, recalled how the Missimi family would share meals with their customers during the early days of the restaurant. Even when it expanded to the point where they could dine in privacy, that atmosphere remained. "People who were coming to the restaurant were coming to my mother's home," Dennis Missimi said, and were treated as guests there. "No matter who came to the door, she always had a smile on her face, no matter how busy we were." Mrs. Missimi "enjoyed having her customers become her friends," Debby said. "By the time we closed, we were serving the fifth generation of some of our original customers." The business partnership Elizabeth and Tony Missimi shared was part of a marriage grounded on faith, family and a commitment to bettering the lives of others. "Our parents taught us that God has been good to us and it's important for us to give back," Dennis Missimi said. Tony Missimi became known for his involvement in social justice activities that ranged from collecting truckloads of clothing for poverty-stricken Appalachia in the 1960s to coordinating the Salvation Army kettle campaign throughout Portage County in the 1980s. He was an active volunteer for numerous organizations and service agencies. Mrs. Missimi was supportive of her husband's involvement, even when it became time-consuming. Her support enabled him to fulfill his mission of service to the community and he, in turn, always credited her with seeing to the operation of the restaurant. "She was the foundation," Dennis Missimi said. "As far as the kitchen was concerned, she ran it." Devout Catholics, the Missimis were active in a variety of church programs, including the Christian Family Movement and Operation Understanding, an interracial fellowship group. Their restaurant and home were favorite stops for local priests and nuns. The Missimis celebrated the 50th anniversary of the family restaurant in 1998 and began winding down operations there a few years later. The business, located at 1313 W. Main St., closed in 2003. The Bistro of Kent now is located there. The couple, who rarely vacationed, enjoyed a brief retirement together in the Kent home they built after decades of living on the premises of their business. Tony Missimi died on July 3, 2007. In addition to her daughter, Debby; and son, Dennis, and his wife, Sally; Mrs. Missimi is survived by a granddaughter, Holly (Adam) Snyder; great-grandson, Tyler James; and sisters, Dorothy Romeo and Frances Barone, both of Kent. Her son, Anthony J., died previously, as did her brothers, Pat, Sam, Louis, Steve and Dominick Mandalari, and sisters, Lena Spain and Jennie Jannette. Cremation has taken place. Services will be held at Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, Newman Center in Kent at a later date. Memorials made by made to Kent Social Services food programs and the Hospice and Palliative Care Unit, Summa Health System, Akron City Campus.