"You can't help but love Mo": Celebrating the life of Mo Hassanzadeh
MINNEAPOLIS -- The WCCO family is keeping one of our colleagues in our thoughts and hearts. Anchor and reporter Erin Hassanzadeh is spending time with her family as she mourns the sudden loss of her father.
There's a table saved at TJ's of Edina--the best seat in the house--a spot for the diner's leader, a beloved friend, father and husband--Mo Hassanzadeh.
"Not too often would we come in and he wasn't there," said John Gallagher, a customer. "He'll be missed."
At 18 years old Mo left his home country of Iran and came to the U.S. to study engineering. He made Minnesota home when he met his wife, Amy.
"He was just an incredible human who could touch people in so many different ways," said TJ's employee Robin Haefel.
While a true entrepreneur, he was known for much more than just his restaurant success.
"He just makes it his business to know his customers and really care. It's not an act he just loved people and people love Mo. You can't help but love Mo," said Haefel.
"Mo's name is written all over it. And he's going to be missed," said Tonya Hebble, an employee at TJ's of Edina. "We're reserving a booth for Mo. He deserves that--that's going to be his booth."
Mo's life was celebrated in a memorial service Thursday afternoon. He is survived by his wife Amy and his daughters Erin and Emily.