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Pizza King founder dies at 98

WFIU | By Katy Szpak
Published February 6, 2024 at 7:57 PM EST
The Pizza King logo in one of the Evansville locations.
The Pizza King logo in one of the Evansville locations.

Wendell Swartz, founder and owner of the Indiana restaurant chain Pizza King, died Jan. 24, 2024 at 98 years old. He opened the first location in 1956 in Lafayette and the business quickly took off. The restaurant now has dozens of locations across Indiana.

This week, we look back at a 2019 story on the history of Pizza King and its recipe for success.

Read more: The story behind an Indiana original: Pizza King
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Katy Szpak
Katy Szpak is a Digital News Journalist for Indiana Public Media. She was raised in Crown Point, Indiana, and graduated from IU Bloomington with a degree in Journalism. She has previously worked at The Media School at IU.
See stories by Katy Szpak