The news came as a shock to co-workers and a legion of Eastern Shore residents he knew as friends and customers.
"He would be one of the nicest men anybody could meet," said Angie Merritt, the restaurant's assistant manager.
Accomack County Sheriff Larry Giddens on Saturday said a homicide investigation continues into Strand's death. Further information was not immediately available.
Merritt said she was told at 2:30 p.m. Saturday that Strand had been found dead earlier that day in his Accomack County home. She had last seen him at 11:30 p.m. Friday.
Pizza Hut District Manager Gil Liberty confirmed that Strand had been found slain after someone went to check on him Saturday.
Liberty described him as "the kindest man that I've ever met and probably will ever meet."
Strand held an uncommon stature in the community, and his association with the eatery was one of the community's celebrated stories.
He was walking down the road in 1990 when the restaurant was being built and was asked by a worker if he wanted to earn extra money unloading a truck of building supplies. Without a car or job, he signed on.
A manager liked his work ethic and offered him a job as a dishwasher when the restaurant opened. He held several other jobs -- everything from assistant cook to assistant manager -- before being asked twice to be manager.
He turned them down, he said in a 2007 interview, because he feared it would interfere with his church and a traveling gospel choir of which he was a member.
When a regional manager said he could attend church whenever he needed, he accepted the third managerial offer.
Strand was known for giving back to the community. When a tropical storm moved though the area, he kept the restaurant open and offered a free buffet to stranded travelers. He often sat down with students and talked about their grades.
"I want to find the good in everyone," he said in a 2007 interview.
Merritt said the restaurant had closed Saturday during various times so employees could deal with the news.
VIA: DelmarvaNow.com
1 comment:
This is just horrible! This was probably done by some dumb young punk in the area that Strand tried to help at one time.
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