E.J. gets ready to start the morning at Angelo’s Pizza.
By Deby Jo Ferguson
Staff Writer
Eleanor Caiazzo “E.J.” and her husband Angelo who passed away April 2023 have been a landmark on the square since 2003 when they moved to Hayesville and opened up Angelo’s Downtown Pizza.
E.J. was born in New Jersey and moved to Florida with her family when she was young.
“I grew up in Florida, met and married Angelo when we were 16 and 18 years old. We were married for 42 years when Angelo passed away. We have four children, Angelo II, Michelle, Chris and Aly. We also have 10 grandchildren,” E.J. said.
Although Angelo grew up in the pizza business, E.J. spent more than 20 years working as a daycare director.
“I’ve only held three jobs, two as a daycare director and then Angelo’s Pizza,” she added.
What brought E.J. to Clay County where she now calls home?
“We had visited Hayesville before and really liked it. We just got tired of living in Florida and decided we wanted to move to the mountains. Angelo went to college to be a teacher but didn’t really want to do that, so we checked out some businesses for sale on the Internet. Angelo went to Hayesville and Hickory then called me that night saying it was definitely Clay County. I haven’t been back to Florida since 2008 when my mother passed away because I don’t miss the heat,” E.J. said.
Thus comes Angelo’s Downtown Pizza on the Square.
“We bought the business and rented the space until 2023 when my son, Angelo II bought the building. Once we moved here we felt so welcomed by the community and loved being here. Angelo and I worked hard but enjoyed working together. A few years after moving here we found out he had a kidney disease and would eventually have to go on dialysis,” E.J. said.
Even faced with the news that things would might get a lot harder E.J. and Angelo didn’t let it stop them. They continued to work for the next 10 years in their pizza business.
“In 2014 my husband started his dialysis and finally got to the point he knew it was just too much. One Friday night Angelo said he was going to sell the business and our son, Angelo II said he would buy it. It was like an overnight exchange of ownership and our son was the owner, which was a good thing,” E.J. said.
Although the ownership changed from Angelo and his wife to their son, E.J. still has her hands in the dough, literally.
“Running a business isn’t easy. Sometimes people think you’re raking in all this money, but there’s so much expense you have to pay just to keep it up and running. I still work at my son’s business and enjoy it very much. I do all the ordering for him and a lot of prepping, but at night when I go home I hand all the business stress over to him,” she grinned.
E.J. has always been a person who believes in working so putting in time at the restaurant with her son is something she enjoys.
“It’s just in my blood to go to work. Even when I was in school I felt that laying out would disappoint someone and I’m the same way now. Working here keeps me busy and of course and I need to earn a living because I still have a daughter to raise. I think I have good work ethics and enjoy what I’m doing. Having good work ethics is something I have tried to instill in my kids as they grew up. It’s something we all need to do with our children,” she concluded.