Gene Stone; President of Pizza Chain

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO — Gene Stone, president of the Shakey’s pizza chain, has died at age 54.

Stone died Thursday at Peninsula Hospital in Burlingame after suffering a heart attack at his office here, the company announced Friday.

While a college student, Stone began working as a janitor at the original Shakey’s in Sacramento in 1960. He was a vice president when he left the company in 1969, then rejoined Shakey’s in 1989 after 17 years as head of Skippers Inc., a Seattle-based seafood restaurant chain. Shakey’s has about 200 restaurants in the United States.

Stone is survived by his wife, Mary, two daughters and two brothers.