Ezekiel “Zeke” Hameen, the noted Birmingham chef and restauranteur known for LaVase Fine Foods and Z’s Restaurant, died on Dec. 1 at his home in Birmingham, his wife Dr. Carolyn Marzette-Bolivar Hameen told AL.com. He was 89.

Family and friends remember Hameen as a pillar in the community who served people through activism and good food.

“Mr. Zeke received many honors for his sacrifice and diligent contributions to our community,” Bolivar Hameen said in a statement released on behalf of his family. “May his soul rest in peace.”

Bolivar Hameen remembers her husband as a staunch community servant who loved music and traveling.

“We went everywhere, We supported a lot of groups, a lot of music in the community. Upcoming comedians and all this kind of stuff,” Bolivar Hameen said in an interview. “Lavell Crawford, I mean, he loved Zeke, let me tell you. When comedians would come into the city, he would take them on a tour.”

Ezekiel Hameen was born Ezekiel Davis in Birmingham on Aug. 8, 1934 to Ben and Mattie Davis. Fondly called “Zeke,” he was the eldest son of four children — Reatha, Johnnie, and Ernest (fondly called “Pop”) and younger sister, Ida, nicknamed “China.”

Hameen’s family said he learned his work ethic, entrepreneurship, and caring nature from his parents. His father Ben Davis worked for The Birmingham News for 30 years as a printer. His mother Mattie Davis, who had both managerial expertise and a longtime love of cooking, combined those skills to open the family’s restaurant in North Birmingham.

Along with working in the family business, one of Zeke’s first jobs was at The Club, the famous social club on top of Birmingham’s Red Mountain where he learned to cook from some of the most celebrated chefs in the state while attending Ullman High School.

After graduating from high school, Hameen traveled west to work in California and Texas. In 1967, he returned to Birmingham and married his first wife Barbara Gray. The couple had three children: Latarsha, Korey, and Jedarrie.

In the late 60s, Ezekiel Davis converted to Islam and changed his last name to Hameen. His conversion to the Muslim faith charged Hameen to travel the country to fight racism and oppression, including arranging a group to attend the Million Man March, the 1995 mass meeting of Black men organized by civil rights activists and the Nation of Islam in Washington, D.C. Hameen’s activism also includes work in unlawful incarceration and prison reform.

Hameen later took a job at Sloss Furnaces as a machinist where he advocated for safer work conditions and protested against the iron producer’s unfair employment practices. After retiring from Sloss Furnaces after 36 years, Hameen and Barbara opened LaVase Fine Foods Restaurant, which frequently employed culinary students from Lawson State and Virginia Colleges.

The restaurant was a gathering place for Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, dignitaries from the NAACP and numerous civil rights foot soldiers and community activists seeking nourishment and fellowship.

Years after Barbara Hameen died of complications from lupus, Zeke Hameen met writer and counselor Carolyn Marzette-Bolivar in 2004. The pair married in 2006 and two years later, the couple opened Z’s Restaurant on 104 17th St N near Birmingham’s civil rights district. With the theme “healthy food that tastes good,” the restaurant became another well-liked dining spot for longtime civil rights leaders and foot soldiers, known for its pork-free fare, range of vegetarian options, and famous bean pies.

Throughout the years, Z’s hosted several musicians and comedians including B.B. King, Mike Epps, Bruce Bruce, and Lavelle Crawford as well as a number of traveling bands and theatrical casts.

Z’s Restaurant closed in 2020, one of the thousands of businesses around the county forced to shutter in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

MORE: ‘It’s a tough business’; Z’s Restaurant closes in Birmingham, but legacy lives on

When Bolivar Hameen made the announcement about Z’s closure on Facebook, loyal patrons took to the platform to thank the couple for their years of hospitality and wish them blessings.

It was one of Hameen’s greatest honors to fix a plate from the hot bar for a member of the movement.

“Mr. Zeke was able to feed the Foot Soldiers and a lot of the civil rights people,” Bolivar Hameen told AL.com in 2020. “He just had such a great legacy.”

After Z’s closed, Zeke Hameen continued to bake pies for friends and family.

He also starred in three film productions directed by Joe Williams the founder of Men In the Kingdom Productions, and co-written by Bolivar Hameen, who runs her own media company, Marzette Media Productions.

(This article will be updated)