Leo Stefanos was the owner of ''Dove Candies & Ice Cream'' in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and the inventor of the Dove chocolate bar. Born in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, Stefanos settled on

Chicago's South Side The South Side is one of the three major sections of the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Geographically, it is the largest of the sections of the city, with the other two being the North and West Sides. It radiates and lies south o ...

to raise a family. According to Dove Chocolate company lore, he was frightened when his young son, Michael, raced recklessly down the street in pursuit of the neighborhood

ice cream truck An ice cream van (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) or ice cream truck (North American English) is a commercial vehicle that ice cream products are sold from, usually during the spring and summer. Ice cream vans ...

and decided to make his own

ice cream bar An ice cream bar is a frozen dessert featuring ice cream on a stick. The confection was patented in the US in the 1920s, with one invalidated in 1928. Description An ice cream bar is a frozen dessert on a stick. It features ice cream, disti ...

in hope of keeping Michael and his brother and sister, Chris and Amy, closer to home. Michael took over his father's business in 1977. The blocky chocolate-covered bars were sold only in the Chicago area until after Stefano's death, when his son expanded the business and then sold it to

Mars, Incorporated Mars, Incorporated (doing business as Mars Inc.) is an American multinational manufacturer of confectionery, pet food, and other food products and a provider of animal care services founded on June 23, 1911, headquartered in McLean, Virgini ...

in 1986.

References

Greek emigrants to the United States Businesspeople from Chicago Businesspeople in confectionery Year of birth missing Year of death missing 20th-century American businesspeople {{US-business-bio-stub