HOUSTON – The owners of the Bush family’s favorite pizza place were unsure if they would be asked to attend the funeral for Barbara Bush.
The former first lady had been a regular customer of Fuzzy’s Pizza for more than 20 years.
The restaurant is located near the Bush’s Tanglewood home in an unassuming strip center. President George H.W. Bush would often take friends, dignitaries and politicians to Fuzzy’s, bringing the pizza place attention and more business.
It was during those many years that “Fuzzy” and wife Rita Hajjar became close to the Bushes who would eat at their restaurant at least once a month, sometimes more, when they were in Houston.
The Bushes liked the pizza, but they also liked Fuzzy, and his narrative of the American dream.
Fuzzy, a Syrian immigrant, came to the U.S. with $100. He learned how to make pizza in Chicago then brought his talents to Texas, eventually opening a pizza place on Antoine near the Katy Freeway.
Bush spoke of her fondness for Fuzzy’s during an interview on the Late Show with David Letterman in 1994.
Fuzzy’s expanded and opened more locations throughout the Houston area.
The Hajjar’s would visit with the Bushes when they came to eat and over the years they developed a friendship.
The couple was invited to Bush’s birthday parties, and received a personal Christmas card each year, but they were not sure if they would be asked to attend Mrs. Bush’s funeral when she died Tuesday.
They learned on Thursday they were invited to attend the funeral to say ‘goodbye.’
Out of the 1,500 guests, Mrs. Bush made 400 personal requests for attendance that she had made while planning the details of her funeral.
The couple was grateful they were able to say ‘goodbye’ to the woman who had changed the direction of their business and ultimately their lives through her patronage of their restaurant.
“Oh my goodness, it was emotional,” said Rita Hajjar who wore a blue dress and pearl necklace to the funeral in honor of the late first lady.
Fuzzy Hajjar was seated next to former cable news talk show host Greta Van Susteran. Rita Hajjar sat behind the widow of former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes.
“When you see her, the last time, it’s really…,” said Fuzzy Hajjar who gets emotional describing the procession of the casket as it left St. Martin’s Espiscopal Church. “The hardest thing was when they took Barbara from the church. And her kids walked behind her. I cried. She cried. And we couldn’t handle it. It was, you know, our friend.”
Business at the pizza restaurant on Saturday was unusually busy throughout the day and into the evening.
Fuzzy Hajjar says guests are paying tribute to the former first lady by ordering her favorite pizza, the “Barbara Bush Pizza,” (artichoke, spinach, chicken and garlic) which has been on the menu for 20 years.
When asked if the pizza will be removed from the menu now that the first lady has passed, Fuzzy Hajjar answers quickly.
“Never,” Fuzzy Hajjar said.
