Shawn Paul Randazzo

Shawn — co-owner and founder of Detroit Style Pizza Co. in St. Clair Shores and an award-winning pizza-maker — died Saturday at age 44, after nearly a year-long battle with brain cancer.

Shawn, who was diagnosed with Stage 4 brain cancer (glioblastoma), died surrounded by relatives at Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit, his family said.

"He went through treatment and fought so hard," his mother, Linda Michaels, said. "He never complained."

Shawn was born in Detroit and grew up in the Utica, Sterling Heights and Mancelona areas.

A resident of Macomb County, Shawn began his pizza career in 1995 as a delivery driver for Cloverleaf Pizza. Several years later, Shawn and his mother became owners of a Cloverleaf Pizza franchise in St. Clair Shores.

In 2009, Shawn entered a pizza-making competition in Ohio, arriving with a Detroit-style pizza. None of the other 70 competitors had anything similar, Shawn told the Detroit Free Press in 2019.

In 2012, Shawn did put Detroit-style pizza on the map. At the International Pizza Expo in Las Vegas that year, he was named World Champion Pizza Maker of the year using a dough recipe he created. It was after winning the title that Shawn decided to launch with his mother, the Detroit Style Pizza Company restaurant and a separate distribution business.

According to detroitstylepizza.com, you can buy equipment and ingredients such as the square pans and brick cheese, hallmarks of making Detroit-style pizza. Shawn also had a consulting business to teach those interested in becoming a Detroit-style pizza-maker.

More recently, Shawn won third place in the Best of the Best Pizza Competition at the 2017 Pizza Expo in Las Vegas.

Michaels said her son was an amazing person, humble and selfless.

"He was like a mini celebrity in Vegas," Michaels said. "People asked him for his autograph."

Palazzo Di Pizza in Royal Oak posted a tribute to Shawn in a Facebook post. The owners are relatives of Shawn, who was a partner in Palazzo Di Pizza.

"Without Shawn, there would be no Palazzo Di Pizza," the post read. "Not only was he a World Pizza Champion, he was a world champion human being, (whose) upbeat attitude and infectious smile charmed us all."

Through the Detroit-style Pizza website, Shawn also sold frozen Detroit-style pizzas through Goldbelly, an online marketplace that specializes in local, artisan companies' offerings.

In April 2020, David Portnoy, a celebrity blogger and founder of Barstool Sports, sampled Randazzo's Detroit-style pizza. He gave it an 8.5 saying the pizza "looks spectacular" was very good and "awesome."

In addition to his mother, Shawn is survived by his wife, Keri, four children, one grandchild and brother Charlie Michaels.

A public viewing will take place 1-8 p.m. Dec. 14 at the Resurrection Funeral Home, 48038 Hayes in Clinton Township.