Our story is a family story.
MHF stands for My Happy Family — and we mean it. Everything we build, operate and manage flows from one simple idea: take care of people the way you'd take care of your own.
Joseph J. Naparlo
Known to most as "Just J.", J. Naparlo is the patriarch, visionary and driving force of what has now evolved into MHF.
His inspiring life story is a reminder that many things are possible through hard work and determination. Having lost both parents at a young age, J. had no option but to jump into work. He started at Burger King as an hourly employee at age sixteen and worked his way up over several years until he found a partner, Gene Chismer, who backed him in becoming a Burger King franchisee in 1980. Together they built over thirty Burger Kings from the ground up.
Having never gone to college, J. learned most of what he knows through trial and error, and he relied heavily on key mentors throughout his life. J. often gives credit to "the Man upstairs for taking good care of him." He is a relentless family man — a proud father of three and grandfather of nine.
John Naparlo
The second generation of MHF leadership, John carries the family standard forward — guiding the company's restaurant operations, development projects and property portfolio from the family's Williamsburg home office. A Williamsburg native and James Madison University alum, John believes — like his father — that the best way to grow a business is to show up, do the work and treat every employee, tenant and guest like family.
"We operate like a mom and pop — we just happen to touch a lot of different things." — John Naparlo
Four decades, one family
An hourly job at sixteen
After losing both parents at a young age, J. Naparlo goes to work at the Wyoming Valley's first Burger King in Kingston Corners, Pennsylvania — and starts climbing, from crew to manager to regional director of operations.
Becoming a franchisee
Backed by partner Gene Chismer, J. opens his first Burger King in Williamsburg, Virginia. Over the years that follow, they build roughly thirty restaurants from the ground up.
Sold — and bought back
J. sells the Williamsburg restaurant group in 1996. When the buyer later stumbles, the family buys its restaurants back. Burgers, it turns out, are in the blood.
Beyond the restaurant
Restaurant success funds land acquisition, retail development and residential communities across Virginia and Pennsylvania — including the 60-acre Yalick Farms planned community and the Shoppes at Yalick Farms in the Back Mountain of Pennsylvania — plus a car wash, a c-store and a growing management portfolio.
MHF — My Happy Family
Two generations strong, MHF brings development, operations and management together under one name: 22 Burger King restaurants across Virginia and North Carolina, the Virginia Car Wash Co., and a portfolio of residential, retail and commercial properties.