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Biography: William Kapaneko

William Kapaneko was born in Chicago, Illinois, on April 25, 1953. He is the son of Victor and Marie Kapaneko, longtime residents of the Chicago area. Kapaneko's family is from Greece: the first member of his family to arrive in America was his great-grandfather, who immigrated in the 1880's through Ellis Island in New York.

The Kapaneko family has always been involved in the restaurant business. Victor's Pizza, his father's establishment, was one of Chicago's favorite eateries for almost forty years, occupying a prime piece of real estate on Michigan Avenue in Chicago. Kapaneko senior sold the building and restaurant to a group of real estate investors in 1982, who later turned the site into part of a walk-up shopping mall.

Bill Kapaneko won a football scholarship to the University of Mississippi in the spring of 1970, and played for the Ole Miss Rebels for four years, maintaining a 3.6 GPA in hotel/restaurant management.

After his graduation in 1974, he took out a small business loan and established Victor's Pizza on the Square in Oxford, in a building that was once the Big and Small clothing store. The restaurant flourished and established a reputation for authentic Italian and Greek food and pizza. His restaurant was also very popular because of it's policy of delivering at any time, on any day up until 2 a.m. Business did so well that Kapaneko opened a second location on University Avenue in 1980, next to the Quick Print shop. Fortunes changed in the late 80's, though. Kapaneko had a heart attack in 1987 while behind the counter of his restaurant, forcing him to sell his building on the Square to help pay for extensive medical bills, including a pacemaker for his heart. His original location on the Square is now Jennie's Gold Crown Hallmark card and stationary store.

Kapaneko is married to the former Vanessa Adams of Greenville, Mississippi, whom he met when they were students at Ole Miss. She is a medical transcriptionist at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Oxford. They have no children.

Kapaneko now works only four days a week, primarily in the mornings, when he makes the dough for pizzas from a family recipe and does other prep work for his restaurant. The remainder of his day is usually spent tending to his hobbies, which include collecting rare books, listening to opera, and playing the classical guitar.