“He’d always go to the back of the store and thank the crews for working so hard on Valentine’s Day, too. Our customers and crews loved him. He’ll really be missed.”

In a 2008 interview with the Wisconsin State Journal, Pederson said he grew up on Chicago’s South Side and was in a gang called The Apostles of Death before his mother sent him to a preparatory seminary.

“My grades went from F’s to A’s right away because at that time, corporal punishment was in,” he said. “You didn’t see a girl for four years and you had a suit and tie on every day. I was going to become a priest but then I got the scholarship for drama and fine arts.”

Professionally, Pederson was more than a pizza pitchman. He was a comedian with Chicago’s Second City and worked with John Belushi and Bill Murray for two years on stage before he moved to Madison. He operated a marketing and consulting business and recorded songs and raps and hosted “Master Pizza Theater,” which used to air on WMSN-TV/Ch. 47.

Pederson also opened a small private practice as a psychotherapist. He said he worked with family and relationships dealing with addiction and wrote a column for Addiction Professional magazine called The Family Factor.