Tobin’s Pizza founder dead at 69 [PHOTOS]

Jim Tobin died Saturday at the age of 69.

BLOOMINGTON – The founder of Tobin’s Pizza in Bloomington has died.

Jim Tobin was vacationing in Florida when he suffered a heart attack on Saturday night. He was 69. His family has planned a public memorial service for 9 a.m. Friday at Calvary Baptist Church in Normal.

Jim Tobin wasn’t afraid of taking risks in life. During his early 20s, he bought out his employer, Ronnie’s Pizza, in order to start Tobin’s. He once started up a used-car lot, invested in start-up entrepreneurs and even raced stock cars across the Midwest and Southeast.

Kelly Tobin said his father was an avid racing fan even after he had to stop driving. Jim was his own sponsor and once drove a car he named the “Pizza Express” with the Tobin’s Pizza logo on the side. His racing career took him to many famous tracks, including Daytona International Speedway.

“His size was his biggest limitation as a racer, and he carried that for a long time,” Kelly said. “But, Dad was a good driver. He loved it and took us kids with him along the racing circuit, right beside the Petty family and others.”

(Jim’s race photos are posted with this story below.)

Teresa Blakeney said her father took his favorite chances on people. She said he mentored would-be business owners and even gave an occasional loan if he liked their plan.

“My dad respects hard work,” she said. “He likes a person who doesn’t take advantage of the system and doesn’t want to sit back and have it handed to him. That’s something that mattered to him.”

Teresa said that’s how he and the late C.J. Stolfa became friends. When C.J.’s S&S Liquors had to close, C.J. learned the restaurant trade by running a catering business out of the Tobin’s Pizza kitchen.

“When we closed at 1 or 2 in the morning, they’d come in at 3 a.m. and start their stuff and be out of there before we opened,” Teresa explained. “That’s how the whole thing started. Dad helped him in business and C.J. never forgot that.”

In fact, the two men became close friends. Teresa described Jim’s dedication to C.J. as the fellow restaurant owner suffered through cancer treatments before his death last year.

“C.J. like to take rides with my dad and just talk. He worked so hard at the restaurant and needed a break, but he was often too tired to drive. So, Dad would go pick him up,” she remembered.

“Dad was a larger man and his hips would really hurt him, but he wouldn’t let his friend down. When C.J. called, he picked him up,” said Teresa.

Jim sold Tobin’s in 1998, but the popular pizzeria still carries his name.  Kelly Tobin continues to use the restaurant skills he learned from his father.  He runs the La Gondola restaurants in the Twin Cities.

“His heart was as big as his body,” Kelly said.  “He did a lot of things for a lot of people that nobody ever knew. And, he was happy that nobody really knew.”

The family requests memorials be made in lieu of flowers. They suggest donors can help a charity of their choice or send a donation to the Sunshine Acres Children’s Home in Mesa, Ariz.

Beth Whisman can be reached at whisman@wjbc.com.

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