A Tri-Cities businessman is being remembered for his quick wit, his easy charm and his tender heart.

Charles “Chuck” Robert Stack died suddenly on May 25. He was 67.

Stack was known for owning several local Round Table Pizza restaurants. 

His path to becoming a “pizza king” involved a lot of hard work.

When he first moved to the Tri-Cities in 1989, he didn’t have “two nickels to rub together.” 

But, “Don Cantrell, owner of Idaho Pizza Company, gave Chuck the opportunity to be a partner in a bankrupt pizza restaurant on 20th Avenue and Court Street in Pasco. Within five years and after many 18-hour days, Chuck bought Don out and continued to develop the Round Table Pizza franchises in the Tri-Cities for another 25 years,” his obituary said.

Stack also owned a Round Table in Yakima – a restaurant he eventually turned over to one of his longtime employees, whom he’d mentored since the employee was a teen.

Stack cared deeply about the people who worked for him and went out of his way to help them grow and thrive, said Gayle Stack, his wife. “His gift was he really got people to step up to the plate. He really pulled it out of people,” she said. “There was something in the way he (mentored employees) that made them respond. It was unique. He was a unique guy.”

When it came time to retire, Chuck Stack – who made sure his shops sponsored local youth sports teams and otherwise gave back to the community – found a way for his Round Table restaurants to keep being a source of good. He sold the Tri-City pizza shops in 2019 to Columbia Industries, an organization dedicated to helping and empowering people with disabilities and other challenges.

Chuck Stack grew up in Minnesota, moving with his family to Billings, Montana, when he was 17.

After high school, he started working as a beverage delivery driver for Inland Coca-Cola. 

He eventually made his way to Boise, Idaho, where he worked in delivery and then as draft manager for Hayden Beverage. “In 1981, he transitioned to Squires Coca-Cola as sales manager, and after two years was promoted to general manager,” the obituary said.

He met Gayle soon after he moved to the Tri-Cities. 

They crossed paths because she was the Pasco Round Table landlord, and the “landlord-tenant relationship dissolved into a life partnership full of immense love, endless adventures, constant shenanigans, the best of friends and hard work building their respective businesses,” the obituary said.

Together, they were active in the Clover Island Yacht Club, with Chuck Stack serving on the board for years. In retirement, Chuck Stack settled into the role of “gentleman rancher” and enjoyed collecting tractors, which he’d loved since he was a little boy.

He also was devoted to family and friends, and “his close friends and loved ones will always remember him as giant hearted and generous beyond measure; his giving touched many,” his obituary said.

Along with his wife, he’s survived by daughters Cheryl (Anthony), Mary (Joseph), Megan (Shane), Kelly (Bryce); brothers Matt, Mike and Gordon; numerous nieces and nephews; his first wife Bonnie and “husband-in-law” Tim Darland; and his many friends.

A celebration of life is planned at 4 p.m. Aug. 12 at the Clover Island Yacht Club in Kennewick.