Thelma Beall, co-founder of Ledo Pizza, dies at 101

Thelma Beall, co-founder of Ledo Pizza, died on New Year’s Eve, officials at the Annapolis-based chain announced on Wednesday. She was 101.

Beall, her husband Bob and business partner Tommy Marcos opened the first Ledo’s in Adelphi in 1955, serving up rectangular pies with a tangy sauce that became known as “Maryland-style” pizza.

Ledo Pizza Systems Inc. is still a family business, run by Thelma Beall’s grandson, James Beall. But the company began franchising in 1989 and now has more than 100 locations, mostly in Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Virginia. But you can find Ledo’s across the mid-Atlantic, as well as in the Carolinas and Florida.

“During the early years, she often worked as a server and hostess at the original Ledo Restaurant,” according to a Jan. 7 company statement posted on X. “We will miss you, Grandma.”

As Banner food writer Hau Chu has written, the chain’s “rectangular pies, which are sliced into smaller, bite-size rectangles, distinguished themselves beyond shape with provolone cheese, sweetly tinged marinara sauce and a light pastry crust, and became an instant hit with University of Maryland students and neighbors.”

Thelma Beall was born in Upper Marlboro in 1924 and graduated from Upper Marlboro High School in 1942, according to an obituary posted by the Kalas Funeral Home and Crematory. She worked for the federal government before becoming president of Ledo Pizza Systems.

She lived in Davidsonville and Annapolis and died at Anne Arundel Medical Center from natural causes, according to the obituary, which called her an avid reader and devoted homemaker who enjoyed eating out.

A parishioner of Holy Family Catholic Church in Davidsonville, she was married for 58 years to Bob Beall, who preceded her in death. She is survived by her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and two great-great grandsons.