Customers come from everywhere, even as far as Japan, to get their hands on one of Mommie Helen's famous pies. NBA superstar Shaquille O'Neal gets his sweet potato pies delivered, or sends someone to pick them up from the Colton bakery.

"Shaq loves sweet potato pie,'' Rose told O'Neal's public relations representative in 2000. "and we have the best in the world.''

That's all it took. For the next four years, they would bring hundreds of pies to O'Neal's parties and events. Each of the guests at O'Neal's 2002 wedding went home with a pie from Mommie Helen's.

Today, 59-year-old Dorothy Pryor Rose, runs Mommie Helen's Bakery on her own. She also cares for her sister, Ruby Williams, 60, who is developmentally disabled and lives in her Rialto home.

Her other sisters recently passed away. Gloria Jacks, 62, died as the result of a heart attack in September and Barbara Watson, 57, who also worked at St. Bernardine Medical Center for 33 years, died last week.

"She was such a good person,'' Rose said of Watson. "She

	(Eric Reed/Staff photographer)

wouldn't want us to be sad. We have to move on.''

The business is all in the family: Rose's employees include her husband, Bobby, daughter Tedra, son-in-law Magate Niane and her cousin Ken Jones.

These days, Rose's enthusiasm has waned. The very recent death of Watson has taken an obvious toll. She takes time during the day to visit her 89-year-old mother, who is in the hospital, care for her sister Ruby, and is present to oversee daily operations at the bakery which produces hundreds of pies a day from its 900-square-foot kitchen.

Business is good, she said. In fact, almost too good. The bakery's six employees are busy working on a special order of more than 1,000 pies this week and dozens more special orders are expected to come in.

On any given holiday -- Thanksgiving, Christmas, you name it -- lines spill out the door sometimes up to more than five hours after closing -- even when each customer is restricted to purchasing no more than two pies. Sometimes surrounding businesses are kind enough to allow the bakery to use their commercial kitchens during the holidays, but it's still not enough.

"The business is overtaking us now,'' Rose said. "We worry about the holidays.''

Fights have broken out in the bakery's small storefront, customers have cried or dropped as much as a $100 just for the bakery's last sweet potato pie.

As the bakery's popularity continues to grow, Rose knows that it is a good thing for the business, but with such a small kitchen, and only two convection and two regular ovens that can bake no more than 48 of the small size pies at a time, she is overwhelmed.

Rose calls it a desperate plea, and her message is simple. Mommie Helen's Bakery needs a bigger place to bake their famous pies and cakes, and Rose wants to stay in the Inland Empire.

"I was offered a spot in L.A. rent free,'' Rose said. "Do I want to leave here?'' she said as she shook her head. "I told them no. I put Colton on the map in the Inland Empire.''

The bakery was opened in 2000, but Rose and her sisters have been making the pies for more than 30 years. The four sisters grew up in San Bernardino and Rose left in 1968 to work at Pacific Bell in Los Angeles.

Watson would often help Rose make pies and cakes for Rose's company parties and potlucks.

"Mom always said to add a little bit of this and a dash of that,'' Rose said. "Never a tablespoon or a teaspoon of this or that."   

Watson and Rose painstakingly perfected their mother's recipes for assorted cobblers, cakes, sweet potato and pecan pies. Rose even began filling orders from her colleagues, one time even backing a van up to the company's delivery dock, as her coworkers scrambled to pick up their pies.

In 1980s, when she began commuting from her home in Rialto, she would continue delivering pies to people in Los Angeles or she would meet people halfway in West Covina.

"It was just incredible,'' Rose said.

One day as she was driving to Los Angeles for a day of work, Rose said she felt that God told her that she needed to open a bakery. Rose retired from a long career with the phone company in 1999 and got into the pie business.

After finding the location in the shopping center right off the 215 Freeway at the Mt. Vernon Avenue/Washington offramp, the sisters worked with a very small budget, purchasing most of their equipment used and at discount from thrift stores or generous local businesses. With no air conditioning and hot ovens, the employees often work up to 10 hours a day in sweltering conditions to fill the orders.

"A business that has high quality service like Mommie Helen's does is something that our community has to be proud of,'' said Colton Mayor Deirdre Bennett.

Rose said Williams was ecstatic when the sisters told her that they had made her pies famous, and they follow their mother's advice at all times: "Mom always said to use the best,'' Rose said.

Many high profile celebrities frequently order items from the bakery, such as Fox 11 news anchor Christine Devine, NFL legend Marcus Allen, actress Angela Bassett and rap mogul Master P, among others. Sometimes the bakery delivered the orders, other times celebrities sent runners to Colton to pick up the desserts.

Mommie Helens has slowly been upgrading their equipment, piece by piece. They still have a long way to go.

The money the business makes is often also used to help seniors and children, as Rose believes God has asked her to.

She hopes that same higher power will be able to guide her as to what her next move is.

"As far as franchising we just don't know,'' Rose said. "I really don't know what to do.''

Rose feels she needs to continue moving forward with the business in memory of the two sisters she has lost. A large laminated photo of the three posing with 100.3 The Beat's Steve Harvey is posted on the wall as a constant reminder of their hard work together to make the business a success.

"We just have to tackle it, one day at a time,'' Rose said.

Rose recalls frequent phone calls from a familiar voice.

"I'd like to have a sweet potato pie delivered,'' Rose recalled the voice saying.

"And my sister would say 'Mom, quit calling, we know it's you. We'll bring one to you right now,' '' Rose recalled with a laugh.

Mommie Helen's Bakery

1090 E. Washington Street #C, Colton

INFORMATION: (909) 783-8012.