By Michael J. Whelan

This Sunday marks the closing of Beningo’s, the west side Italian restaurant which for 45 years has provided everyone with countless great meals and even greater friendship and fellowship.

It has remained in Grandpa and Grandma Joe and Bea Beningo’s family from the start. Joe and Bea were joined by their daughter Eleanor “Tootsie” and her husband Bob Hayes, and Bob and Tootsie’s daughter Janet and her husband Denny Whitworth. In the intervening years virtually every member of the Beningo family, from Janet’s brothers and sisters and their kids to nieces and nephews and cousins, has worked there at one time or another. It has truly been a family affair.

Now, after all these years, Janet and Denny are closing the doors this coming Sunday, and we are all the poorer for it. It has been one helluva run, not likely to ever be repeated in our lifetimes.

I checked back in my Forum archives and found that I first wrote about “the restaurant” on January 31, 2013, singing the praises of it, much to the chagrin of this station’s advertising department, who thought I shouldn’t be talking up a business that didn’t advertise on the station. They missed the point, because Beningo’s never needed to advertise. Word of mouth is what has made it a success.

The last time I wrote about it was on January 2, 2014, to note the recent passing of Janet’s dear Mom, “Tootsie”, who devoted her life to her “baby.”

Since then I have teased Janet that hopefully she didn’t want the epitaph on her tombstone to read

“I wish I had spent more time at the restaurant.”

Now she and Denny can move on to the next chapter in their lives, which will not involve 70 to 80 hour weeks and will instead involve some well deserved rest and relaxation. No one I know deserves it more than they do. I only hope they will include us, their close circle of old friends, in their adventures.

So, as I said at the outset of this piece, “thanks for the memories”, dear Janet and Denny, and all of their immediate and extended family members, who contributed to this one of a kind place.

Michael J. Whelan has been a licensed practicing attorney for over 33 years. He also serves as an arbitrator in the 11th Judicial Circuit Mandatory Arbitration program. In addition, he is presently the president of the board of directors of his homeowners association, and is also a member of the board of directors of The Old House Society. He and his wife of thirty-one plus years, Cheryl Whelan, live in Bloomington. He and Cheryl enjoy exercising, reading, and being close to family and friends.

The opinions expressed within WJBC’s Forum are solely those of the Forum’s author, and are not necessarily those of WJBC or Cumulus Media, Inc.