Obits

St. Louis–Style Pizza Pioneer Jim Parrott Has Died

Parrott.
Parrott. Photo: Courtesy Villa Farotto

James “Jim” Parrott, the longtime proprietor of Farotto’s in Rock Hill, Missouri, died on Sunday of cancer. His Post-Dispatch obituary notes he started picking up shifts at the south St. Louis restaurant, a family business, when he was just 9 years old, and later signed on full-time after a knee injury sidelined his baseball career. In Missouri, Imo’s usually gets credit for originating St. Louis–style pizza, identified by its layer of melted Provel, cracker-thin crust, and square slices, but Farotto’s, which opened in 1956, maintains it served the regional style several years before its competitor opened its first location. The restaurant ships its pies to homesick St. Louisans across the country. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Related]

St. Louis–Style Pizza Pioneer Jim Parrott Has Died