{"id":257,"date":"2026-05-15T22:05:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T22:05:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=257"},"modified":"2026-05-15T22:05:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T22:05:10","slug":"longtime-raleigh-bbq-restaurant-owner-dies-after-cancer-battle-community-mourns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=257","title":{"rendered":"Longtime Raleigh BBQ restaurant owner dies after cancer battle, community mourns"},"content":{"rendered":"

AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.<\/p>\n

Read our AI Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n

The owner of one of Raleigh\u2019s oldest barbecue restaurants has died.<\/p>\n

Jerry Hart, the co-owner and founder of Ole Time Barbecue in Raleigh, died Wednesday, May 13 at age 73. In a Facebook post<\/a>, his family said Hart died from a recurrence of an aggressive throat cancer.<\/p>\n

Read more Car slams into restaurant patio in downtown Raleigh; hit-and-run reported<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is with a heavy and broken heart that we announce the passing of owner Jerry B Hart,\u201d the family wrote on the Ole Time Barbecue Facebook page. \u201cJerry has laid his working tools down and he is with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Hart family would like to thank all of you for your thoughts, prayers, meals and outpouring of love over the past few months.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the Facebook post, friends and regulars of the restaurant shared memories of Hart, from warm interactions over barbecue, to his pride in the food at Ole Time and charity work.<\/p>\n

In 1993, he and his wife Kathy Hart opened Ole Time Barbecue on Hillsborough Street in Raleigh, a diner-style restaurant with Hart\u2019s Eastern North Carolina roots at its center.<\/p>\n

Now working on its fourth decade, Ole Time Barbecue has been a longtime staple of Raleigh\u2019s restaurant community and celebrated its 33rd anniversary on Sunday, May 10.<\/p>\n

The barbecue restaurant was a dream seeded in Eastern North Carolina, where Hart learned how to cook while living with his grandfather, his wife Kathy Hart said in a phone interview.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey always dreamed of having a little barbecue joint,\u201d she said. \u201cHe was very much a people person.\u201d<\/p>\n

When they opened the restaurant, Jerry Hart told people he had $300 and a dream, his son Ben Hart said in a phone interview. The family took over an existing restaurant space that had been called Ole Time Barbecue.<\/p>\n

Read more Child bitten by sloth at NC safari park, USDA inspection report says<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cMy mom said, \u2018If we change the name we\u2019ll have to buy a new sign,\u2019\u201d Ben Hart said. \u201cSo they left it Ole Time Barbecue.\u201d<\/p>\n

In running Ole Time Barbecue, Kathy said her husband was the \u201cpeople person\u201d and she was the \u201cpaper person,\u201d handling the restaurant\u2019s bookkeeping and operations while Jerry handled the food and customers.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a big personality, he was a jokester,\u201d Kathy Hart said. \u201cHe liked to talk and being in the restaurant, it was like he had a new audience every hour or so.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jerry Hart retired from Ole Time Barbecue about seven years ago, just before COVID, with his son Ben taking over. In retirement, Jerry and Kathy went on camping trips and charity motorcycle rides, becoming active in the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation through fundraising rides.<\/p>\n

The first year Jerry Hart participated in the NC Triangle Ride for Kids, he put a jar by the register at Ole Time Barbecue and raised $1,500 in only a week, his son Ben said. He ended up being one of the top fundraisers that year. His role grew each year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis itty bitty ride grew so big it had to be moved,\u201d Ben Hart said. \u201cWe went from having 30 bikes in the ride to more than 1,000 going around the circle in Pittsboro. Miles and miles of motorcycles.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ole Time Barbecue will close at 2 p.m. Wednesday, May 20 and will be closed all day Thursday, May 21 for Hart\u2019s memorial service.<\/p>\n

Read more Is Belmont Cameli Single? What We Know About \u2018Off Campus’ Star’s Love Life<\/a><\/p>\n

This story was originally published May 15, 2026 at 2:27 PM.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ole Time Barbecue founder Jerry B. Hart, who opened the Hillsborough Street diner in 1993, died at 73; family notes his legacy, retirement, and the restaurant\u2019s 33rd anniversary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":256,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-read-todays-edition"],"yoast_head":"\nLongtime Raleigh BBQ restaurant owner dies after cancer battle, community mourns - Durham Moving Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=257\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Longtime Raleigh BBQ restaurant owner dies after cancer battle, community mourns - Durham Moving Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ole Time Barbecue founder Jerry B. Hart, who opened the Hillsborough Street diner in 1993, died at 73; family notes his legacy, retirement, and the restaurant\u2019s 33rd anniversary.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=257\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Durham Moving Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-15T22:05:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/68947b2c599d7cd193b6ec5c25d4b3ae.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"674\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=257#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=257\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85\"},\"headline\":\"Longtime Raleigh BBQ restaurant owner dies after cancer battle, community mourns\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-15T22:05:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=257\"},\"wordCount\":606,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=257#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/68947b2c599d7cd193b6ec5c25d4b3ae.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Read today's Edition\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=257#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=257\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=257\",\"name\":\"Longtime Raleigh BBQ restaurant owner dies after cancer battle, community mourns - Durham Moving Hub\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=257#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=257#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/68947b2c599d7cd193b6ec5c25d4b3ae.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-15T22:05:10+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=257#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=257\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=257#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/68947b2c599d7cd193b6ec5c25d4b3ae.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/68947b2c599d7cd193b6ec5c25d4b3ae.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":674},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=257#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Longtime Raleigh BBQ restaurant owner dies after cancer battle, community mourns\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Durham Moving Hub\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Longtime Raleigh BBQ restaurant owner dies after cancer battle, community mourns - Durham Moving Hub","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=257","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Longtime Raleigh BBQ restaurant owner dies after cancer battle, community mourns - Durham Moving Hub","og_description":"Ole Time Barbecue founder Jerry B. Hart, who opened the Hillsborough Street diner in 1993, died at 73; family notes his legacy, retirement, and the restaurant\u2019s 33rd anniversary.","og_url":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=257","og_site_name":"Durham Moving Hub","article_published_time":"2026-05-15T22:05:10+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":674,"url":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/68947b2c599d7cd193b6ec5c25d4b3ae.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=257#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=257"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/#\/schema\/person\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85"},"headline":"Longtime Raleigh BBQ restaurant owner dies after cancer battle, community mourns","datePublished":"2026-05-15T22:05:10+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=257"},"wordCount":606,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=257#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/68947b2c599d7cd193b6ec5c25d4b3ae.jpg","articleSection":["Read today's Edition"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=257#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=257","url":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=257","name":"Longtime Raleigh BBQ restaurant owner dies after cancer battle, community mourns - Durham Moving Hub","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=257#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=257#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/68947b2c599d7cd193b6ec5c25d4b3ae.jpg","datePublished":"2026-05-15T22:05:10+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/#\/schema\/person\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=257#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=257"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=257#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/68947b2c599d7cd193b6ec5c25d4b3ae.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/68947b2c599d7cd193b6ec5c25d4b3ae.jpg","width":1200,"height":674},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=257#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Longtime Raleigh BBQ restaurant owner dies after cancer battle, community mourns"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/","name":"Durham Moving Hub","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/#\/schema\/person\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/durhammovinghub.com"],"url":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=257"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}