Guerrino "Speedy" Bonvini, a longtime owner of Bonvini's Pizza in Livingston, died Aug. 18 at his home in Sussex, New Jersey. He was 93.

Bonvini died peacefully, surrounded by his wife, Patricia, and caregivers, according to an obituary published in the West Essex Tribune.

The pizzeria he helped build became one of Livingston's most recognized small businesses. Bonvini's Pizza opened in 1955 on Mount Pleasant Avenue, where it served thin-crust pies made with fresh dough, sauce and herbs, cooked in a rotating metal oven. The menu also included chicken and eggplant parm, baked ziti and chicken cutlets. Customers were told their order would be ready in "20 minutes."

The shop closed around 1998, but its hold on the community never loosened. A "Bring Back Bonvini's" Facebook group launched in 2009, drawing residents who swapped memories of the Mount Pleasant Avenue storefront. Patch reported that online Livingston memory groups reflected lasting affection for the pies.

The Bonvini family traces its roots to Senigallia, Italy, a port town on the Adriatic coast. Walking into the shop in the 1970s, customers encountered Bonvini and his teenage sons working the oven, according to a March 2023 Edible Jersey feature on the family.

In November 2022, family members Marcello Bonvini and his sister Tricia reopened the pizzeria at 127 S. Livingston Ave. The soft opening on Nov. 14, 2022, drew crowds. Longtime Livingston resident Betsy Rynar summed up the excitement in the Edible Jersey piece:

"Have you heard? Bonvini's pizza sold out on the first day! They reopened, right around the corner from where they used to be!"

"The art of Italian food made fresh every day is in our blood," Tricia Bonvini told Edible Jersey in March 2023. She said the family wanted its legacy to live on through the next generation, with her daughter and nephews now working at the shop.

Guerrino Bonvini was predeceased by his wife of 21 years, Barbara O'Brien Bonvini; his twin brother, Sigismondo Bonvini; his parents, Nicola and Bruna Bonvini; sisters and brother Rosemarie Reynolds, Sylvia Ivkovich, Silvio Bonvini and Norma Kuzma; and his niece, Jennifer Ivkovich. He is survived by his wife Patricia.