Owners and patrons of a landmark Mobile restaurant are mourning the unexpected death of an employee who became a part of the family over the course of 32 years.

Owners of Roshell’s Café and Diner on Spring Hill Avenue posted on Facebook that they were “absolutely heartbroken” to share the news that Charles “Buff” Willis had died Monday evening. Alex Flowers, a son of the restaurant’s namesake, Roshell Flowers, launched a GoFundMe drive to help Willis’ family with expenses after his death at home at age 52.

In the restaurant on Wednesday, Alex and Roshell Flowers remembered Willis not just as an employee who could be trusted with any job in the house, but as one who had a special connection with patrons.

“He remembered everybody,” said Roshell Flowers.

“It happened last week,” said Alex Flowers. “Somebody walked in who hadn’t been here in five-six years; he remembered their face and what they ate.”

Roshell’s has been around long enough that many of its older patrons first dined there as children. Roshell Flowers said Willis, who’d worked there since late 1993, often would tip her off that an adult patron was “so-and-so’s kid.”

“He was very genuine, just a genuinely good person,” said Alex Flowers.

“It seems impossible to put our emotions into words,” the Flowers family said in a Facebook post. “Whether you’ve been coming in for the entire 32 years that Charles has been here, or if you just found us in the last few, you know how much Charles meant to everyone. He was truly one of a kind, and 52 years simply wasn’t enough time.”

Their tribute continued: “For those that don’t know, Charles walked in looking for work at the age of 21 after moving back home from Alabama State, where he played football. He had played QB at Shaw for Coach Terry Curtis, who Mack [Flowers] and Roshell had known since high school, so they found a spot for him. It didn’t take long for Charles (or Buff, as his childhood friends know him) to show that he had the personality and work ethic to fit in perfectly. Charles never met a stranger, and he treated everyone with dignity and respect.

“He didn’t just work here,” the post continued. “Charles has been with us through the best times in our lives, and through the worst. He became a part of our family. And in those 32 years he built strong and lasting friendships with many of you. Some of you even remember the many years when his mother, Mrs. Deloris Willis, ran the register for us. We truly were a family, and it won’t be the same without him here.”

“Please keep his wife, Taiecha, his daughter McKenzie, a sophomore at USA, his mother, brother, and all his family in your prayers,” said the post.

“It’s been encouraging to see the response,” said Alex Flowers. “It’s obvious how much Charles meant to everybody who worked here and ate here over the years.”