He was proclaimed Akron's Pizza King by Akron City Council in a 1975 resolution, and was one of Akron's greatest and most innovative restaurant operators.

Frank Vaccaro, who started selling pizzas in Akron in 1956, passed away this week at the Village at St. Edwards at the age of 80.

The Sicilian native at one time operated six pizza restaurants in the city.

Frank's son Raphael Vaccaro spent much of the day Tuesday reminiscing about his father's pioneering efforts in the serving of pizzas and Italian food.

" My father started in the 50's and joined together with his brother Siglumbo, and pretty much they were ahead of their time in what they were doing. It was a high volume pizza operation. They brought a lot of good things to this town," said Raphael, who continues to manage Vaccaro's Trattoria on Ghent Road in Fairlawn.

One of Frank Vaccaro's most popular restaurants was on Arlington Street in South Akron. Raphael remembers pizza night in Akron as thousands of those famous pies were in demand at the Arlington and five other locations in the city.

" I can tell you that on Fridays, football Fridays, they used to be lined up on weekends. We had policemen working the door. That's how busy they were."

Raphael Vaccaro says his father was the first to offer a salad bar in his restaurants and also was one of the first to switch to more efficient high volume conveyor belt ovens that could turn out thousands of pizzas a day. " It was a conveyor convection oven that was made for volume and consistency. So we had the ability to do a lot of pies at each store and my father was one of the first ones to bring that style of oven to town. "

All six pizza shops eventually closed and more than a decade ago Raphael and his father opened Vaccaro's Trattoria, where the pizza legacy lives on along with a full menu of Italian food and wine.

Another pizza shop was re-opened on Sand Run Road in 2009. 

Raphael says his father left his three brothers and a sister a restaurant culinary foundation that can't be bought or copied anywhere. " All of our experience as children was in food, it's our lives."

The family moved Frank Vaccaro and his wife into Village at St. Edward two years ago and while cleaning out their house Raphael came across something he cherishes, that original city council proclamation honoring his father as the city's pizza king.

" It's great memories. We had closure today. Everything is good. It's all good. My strength and my drive in this business is my mom and dad," said Raphael Vaccaro.