Jimele Aly "Jim" Hamway

1934 - 2012

(News article) A Toledo man who developed a following as he melded attention to detail and bonhomie at the Toledo-area eating and drinking establishments he owned, died of cancer Friday in Ebeid Hospice Residence, Sylvania. Jimele Aly "Jim" Hamway was 78.

He retired in 2007 from Hamway's on the Main, the restaurant on Monroe Street in Sylvania that he, his wife, Shirley, and daughter, Sue, opened five years earlier to an instant clientele.

"For six weeks, you couldn't get in the door," his wife said. "People found out he was going into business, and they gravitated.

"He got along so well with people and his employees, really I would say, loved him."

His son, Tom, and a group of friends bought the restaurant, which remains in business.

"He was ready. He was in his 70s and getting tired," his son said.

From 1982-2000, he and his wife operated Hamway's Food and Spirits on Alexis Road near Monroe in Sylvania. Some customers arrived at 6 p.m. and stayed until 2 a.m. so they wouldn't miss their friends.

"It was like the Cheers of Sylvania," his daughter said - except at Hamway's, customers could get liver-and-onions and steak dinners; from-scratch soup, and homemade cheesecake.

"A lot of friendships came out of there," his son said. "There are more memories there than any place else."

Mr. Hamway owned the Town & Country Lounge in the Ottawa Hills Shopping Center on West Central Avenue from 1970-1980.

"It was like going to a party every night," his wife said. "It was a lively environment. It was a fun, fun place to be, mostly because he was there."

His daughter said: "He was the draw."

"He was the ringleader, so to speak," his son added.

He was a student at Ohio University in the 1950s when he was thrust into responsibility.

His father died, and he returned home to care for his mother and operate Aly's Bar, his father's downtown business. He later owned the Caravan Club at Detroit Avenue and Islington Street.

His Theatrical Bar on St. Clair Street next to the Rivoli Theater, drew staffers from The Blade and the former Toledo Times and the downtown office crowd. He owned Sebastian's Restaurant on Reynolds Road near Dorr Street from the late 1960s into the 1970s.

He knew his businesses thoroughly, from kitchen to office to dining room to bar.

"He learned by doing, and he started at the age of 21 running a business on his own," his wife said.

He was born April 9, 1934, in Oldham, S.D., to Sofie and Aly Hamway, who were Lebanese immigrants. His parents, aware of the large Lebanese-American community in Toledo, relocated in 1942.

Mr. Hamway was a 1952 graduate of Ottawa Hills High School. He was an Army veteran and served stateside.

He was 12 and his wife 10 when they met.

"Our families were friends," his wife said. "In our culture very often, marriages are arranged, and people like to say to me, 'Who arranged your marriage?' And my pat answer to them is, 'Me' - because I knew what he was. That was it.

"He was generous. Fun-loving," she said. "He was the real deal."

Surviving are his wife, Shirley Hamway, whom he married Nov. 5, 1961; son, Tom Hamway; daughter, Sue Hamway, and three grandchildren.

Services will be at 10 a.m. Monday in the Walker Funeral Home, where visitation will be from 3 to 8 p.m.today.

The family suggests tributes to Ebeid Hospice Residence, Sylvania, or the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo, Perrysburg Township, of which he was a member.

Contact writer Mark Zaborney at: mzaborney@theblade.com or 419-724-6182.