Pasquale N. Bruno Jr., (Jan. 8, 1933-Oct. 30, 2012). Pat served in the Air Force as a 1st Lieutenant, four years as a member of a flight crew, stationed in Europe and North Africa. He graduated from St. Michaels College in Vermont with a Bachelors degree. He began his career working for Sears, eventually moving to Chicago in 1967, where he became Corporate National Manager of Sears Home Appliances. It is also where he met his wife of 33 years, Gale Johnson.

Leaving Sears after 14 years, in 1978 he opened a chain of stores “Cook’s Mart” which sold gourmet cookware and houseware items. Pat invented the first pizza stone for home use in the early 1970s for which he held the original patent. He also invented about 25 different kitchenware tools, some of which still hold the coveted Cooks Illustrated “Highly Recommended” rating. He authored five books on pizza and pasta making. He was the owner of a cooking school “Cucina Paradiso” in Chicago, where worked with celebrity chefs Jacques Pepin, Diana Kennedy, among others.