Papa John's CEO Visits Funeral Of Employee Killed On The Job

It's one thing to say you care about your employees, but it's another thing entirely to put your money - and your time - where your mouth is.

On Saturday, Papa John's CEO John Schnatter did just that when he attended the Spring Hill, Tennessee funeral of Gordon "Gordo" Schaffer, a 22-year-old employee who was murdered while working the late shift at one of the company's stores earlier this month.

Schaffer's sister, Devan Cronin, wrote an emotional post on Facebook thanking Schnatter for coming and Papa John's for paying her younger brother's medical bills and funeral expenses.

"We never once imagined that this would touch anyone high up in the Papa John's corporate office, let alone, John Schnatter," Cronin wrote. "He was visibly distraught when speaking to my family about the tragic loss of my brother and it was apparent that he didn't come just to pay lip service."

According to Cronin's note, posted to the Remembering Gordo Schaffer Facebook group, Papa John's sent about 25 delivery cars to the funeral escorted by the Spring Hill, Tennessee, police department.

"This display of support was so much more meaningful than any monetary donation," Cronin wrote.

The Tennessean reports Schaffer was the only employee at the company's Columbia, Tennessee, location on October 20 when two masked men entered the store and demanded he open the cash register and give them money. Though Schaffer did as he was told, he was shot in the chest and died afterward at Vanderbilt Medical Center, Clarksvillenow.com reports.

Cronin told Clarksvillenow.com that her brother was "kind of a hippie kid" who lived in the moment and enjoyed attending music festivals.