Anthony G. Stavropoulos, who owned Anthony’s Pancake House in Montauk for 68 years, died on April 6 at the Hamptons Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing in Southampton. He was 94 and had been ill for just a few weeks.
His father, George Stavropoulos, owned the East Hampton Tea Room on the corner of Newtown Lane and Main Street from the 1920s to the 1940s and came out of retirement in 1952 to teach his son the restaurant business and help him open the Circle Luncheonette in Montauk. After a few years, they moved to a larger space and renamed the venture Anthony’s Pancake House.
Mr. Stavropoulos enjoyed being with people and going to the restaurant and talking to his customers, both the regulars and the new ones. When he decided to finally retire in 2020, he sold the restaurant to one of his favorite employees, Diana Carrillo, who had worked for him for many years. She operates it now under the same name.
Born at home on Toilsome Lane in East Hampton on Oct. 25, 1928, to George Stavropoulos and the former Helen Lekakis, he grew up in East Hampton with his two older sisters, Angie and Mary. He attended Adelphi College and the Parsons School of Design and served in the Army in 1954 and 1955.
In his later years, he was a regular at his favorite restaurant, John Papas Cafe in East Hampton, where he enjoyed talking with old friends and fellow customers.
“When summer came, his favorite place was Main Beach,” his family wrote. “Anthony would sit on the veranda, have lunch, and talk to everyone. He loved it when the bands came on Tuesday night so he could get up and dance or tap his cane in time with the music.” He was also fond of theater and travel.
Mr. Stavropoulos “was lucky that in the last few years he had a wonderful companion, Val, who took very good care of him,” his family wrote. “There were also special people he loved who did a lot to help him, especially as he aged.” These included Ms. Carrillo and Alirio Hernandez, Jane de Sousa, and Julien Rojas. And “he still loved going to his old restaurant every week for breakfast, which Diana said was always on the house for him.”
His sisters, Angie Pespas and Mary Andromidas, died before him. He is survived by his extended family, with whom he was very close, including his niece Elaine Lifton and her husband, Artie, of Bloomfield, Conn., his niece Joan Andromidas of Punta Gorda, Fla., his great-nephew, Jason Lifton, and his wife, Catherine Ho, of Park Slope, Brooklyn, a great-niece, Deborah Lifton Gurvich, and her husband, Dan Gurvich, of West Hartford, Conn., and his great-great-nephews and niece Nikolas Lifton, Harrison Lifton, and Maria Gurvich.
Mr. Stavropoulos was a member of the Greek Orthodox Church of the Hamptons in Southampton, where the Rev. Constantine Lazarakis officiated at a service for him. He was buried at Cedar Lawn Cemetery in East Hampton.
His family has suggested memorial contributions to the church at 111 St. Andrew’s Road, Southampton 11968.
