Domenico “Dom” DeMarco, the owner of beloved Midwood institution Di Fara Pizza since its opening in 1965, has died. His daughter Maggie DeMarco-Mieles wrote in a Facebook post that it’s with a “broken heart” that she was announcing Dom had passed away Thursday. He was 85 years old. “He was the hardest working man I know and he was a leader and will remain a leader through his legacy,” she wrote.

De Marco emigrated from Italy in 1959 and later opened what has become a Brooklyn staple in an unassuming storefront on Avenue J in Midwood. The name Di Fara is a portmanteau of his name and a former business partner who DeMarco bought out in 1978.