-
Chef Boyardee is a household name throughout the United States
-
The character is inspired by the real chef, Ettore “Hector” Boiardi, who changed the conversation around spaghetti dinners across the U.S. less than a decade after immigrating here
-
PEOPLE spoke with paranormal investigator and travel vlogger Courtney Eastman about Boiardi’s rich history and her visit to his gravesite
If you’ve ever taken a stroll down the pasta and canned goods aisles at your local grocery store, chances are you’re familiar with Chef Boyardee.
What you may not know, however, is that Chef Boyardee isn’t just a brand mascot. He’s an homage to the man behind the company, Ettore “Hector” Boiardi. Boiardi is buried in Ohio, a humble resting place for a man who changed the consumer food landscape.
PEOPLE spoke with paranormal investigator and travel vlogger Courtney Eastman, known on social media as @theghoulguide, after her recent visit to Boiardi’s final resting place.
“I came across an article recently where it mentioned Chef Boyardee’s grave. I was already looking for something in the area at the time and it came up, too. I didn’t remember it being there, so when I had the chance to be in the area, I made a point to go find him,” she tells PEOPLE.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Courtesy of Courtney Eastman
Hector J Boiardi’s resting place
Related: All the Times Fast Food Brands Clapped Back at Their Haters on Twitter
Boiardi was born in Italy in 1897. He was just 11 when he started working at a hotel in his area. That gave him five years of experience under his belt as the young chef immigrated to the United States through Ellis Island at 16.
Boiardi searched for work in New York City’s upscale hotels and worked at a few. Then his brother, who had immigrated ahead of him, was able to get Boiardi a job at The Plaza Hotel. During his time there and as he worked his way up the ranks, he started incorporating more Italian food onto the fine dining menu, dominated by French food at that point. After catering an event for soldiers returning from World War I, Boiardi caught the attention of Woodrow Wilson, who had him cater his second wedding.
Two years later, Boiardi moved to Cleveland with his wife, Helen. The two worked on opening their own Italian restaurant, which quickly became a hit with the locals. Customers even asked if he’d sell the pasta sauce for them to take home. When he started doing that, he had customers approach him about helping can the sauce, too.
By 1928, the Boiardis were selling their first spaghetti dinner kit, branding the name as Chef Boyardee so people could understand how to pronounce it. Over the next decade, demand and the product line would grow as the number of grocery stores carrying their products grew. By 1942, their factory was running 24/7 as they helped create rations for World War II.
Demand took a sharp decrease after the war. Faced with laying off employees, Boiardi decided to sell the company instead so that all his employees could keep their jobs. He sold the company to American Home Foods and would spend the rest of his life running “Chef Hector” restaurants around the Cleveland area. He also continued developing new Italian food products for consumers.
Courtesy of Courtney Eastman
Chef Boyardee labels and cans left at Boiardi’s resting place
Bioardi died in 1985 and was buried in Ohio, where he’d changed his life. For Eastman and countless others who stop at the All Souls Cemetery to pay their respects, it’s special to learn about the person behind the brand.
“Chef Boyardee is a great point of nostalgia for many of us. I mean, he’s a legend. I grew up with him. My sister and I lived on Beefaroni when we were kids, so I feel like it was just kind of this full circle childhood moment,” Eastman shares.
“It’s like, we don’t know each other, but we kind of do. I think it’s cool to influence so many people. He not only took over the American market when it came to this ready-to-heat Italian food. His kindness was also so well-known throughout his little communities. I just think I think it was a fun little stop to make,” she adds.
Eastman has had “so much fun” sharing the stories of Boiardi and others like him, starting from their places of rest.
“When I first started my blog, I never really saw myself doing this. I thought I’d just stick around Buffalo and talk about, the stories over there,” she says of her home base in New York. “Getting the chance to travel and then getting the chance to also share these stories and not only uncover them for myself, but also for so many other people … it’s just been so fun. We get a lot of good feedback. We promote conversations, and I just love being able to keep the stories going.”
Read the original article on People
