Jess Hays wanted the last solid food he ate to be the dumplings from Perla Homemade Delights in Parma, Ohio. The family that owns the business heard about it and shipped them at their own expense.
Pierogi are dumplings of unleavened dough – first boiled, then baked or fried – and traditionally stuffed with potato filling, sauerkraut, ground meat, cheese or fruit.
Hays died Monday in Deming at the age of 62. According to his wife, he had battled pancreatic cancer for 18 months.
The couple moved to Deming seven years ago from Akron after both retired from the University of Akron.
People moved by the gesture have flocked to the bakery since the story came out last week.