Constantinos E. "Gus" Lambrou

GUS LAMBROU: FAMILY MAN, BUSINESSMAN and PILLAR of the GREEK AMERICAN
COMMUNITY

ITHACA - Longtime Ithaca resident and prominent Collegetown businessman
Constantinos (Gus) E. Lambrou, passed away unexpectedly of natural causes at his home
this past Thursday morning, January 12. He was 85 years of age, and just five weeks shy
of his 86th birthday.

Gus was born in Kosovitsa of Northern Epiros on February 17, 1931 to Evangelos and
Kalliroy Lambrou. The younger of two sons, the village of his birth is now located in
present-day southern Albania, near the Greek border.

Evangelos Lambrou owned and operated a bakery in Athens. He sent money from afar to
support his family, and would visit the peaceful mountain-situated village when he could.
He summoned Kalliroy to bring their children to Athens just before the outbreak of World
War II in 1939. She guided two young boys on foot - in the dead of night, with enemy
soldiers patrolling a very rugged frontier - during an arduous journey to Athens well over 300
miles away, leaving many relatives and all belongings behind.

That was the last time anyone in the Lambrou family saw their home village for the next
50 years. The Axis Powers had sealed the border before the end of the war, and Albania
did not reopen its borders again until 1989, by which time Greek minorities in the region
were devastated by longstanding Albanian isolation and hostility. Meanwhile, Nazi
authorities then occupying Athens seized Evangelos Lambrou's bakery, placing immense
economic hardship on the Lambrou family.

No stranger to poverty while growing up in war-torn Greece, Gus helped organize a local
soccer league in Athens, as well as roadtrips with his teammates and friends. As a young
man, he sold roses, buttons and fabrics to passersby on the streets of Athens to help
support his family. But he also knew that in order to make more progress, he needed to
leave Greece and go to America.

Gus first came to the United States from Greece in 1956. He never saw his father alive
again. He followed his (late) beloved brother George, who was completing physical
therapy studies at Ithaca College, to America. The two brothers also had a maternal aunt
(Olga Kostakis) who had settled in the Finger Lakes region by 1920.

Gus's first job was with the Penn Yan Boat Company which, at the time, manufactured
wooden canoes, rowboats and sailboats. He eventually relocated to Ithaca, where he
worked three jobs a day, seven days a week, for the next three years at the College Spa,
Frozen Gold and Mickey's Market. He saved enough money to purchase Campus
Grocery on Eddy Street from the Longo family in September 1959, and gradually
expanded into the real estate and travel agent business. He finally went back to Greece
after five years for his father's one-year memorial service. He met his wife to-be, Maria,
in May of 1961. They were married at Saint Constantine's Church in Athens on July 2,
1961 (a little over a month after they first met). It was a semi-arranged marriage that

lasted for the next 55-plus years. When they celebrated their Golden Anniversary at the
Ithaca Yacht Club in 2011, Gus and Maria received official greetings from President
Obama, Governor Cuomo, Senator Schumer and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of
Constantinople. Then Mayor of Ithaca Carolyn Peterson also issued an official city
proclamation to mark the milestone occasion.

"Gus's Grocery," as it had come to be known, became a center for political debate in
Collegetown, both with fellow Greeks and many Cornell students. Gus was so popular
with students that he made the 1967 Cornell Annual Student Year Book, even though he
himself was never a student there.

Though Campus Grocery was a successful business for a number of years, Gus realized
that the emerging supermarket industry was too much competition, so he purchased Stone
Travel Agency right across the street in 1974, and phased out his grocery store in 1975.
Selling Stone Travel in 1985, he then acquired Beam Travel Center in downtown Ithaca,
which was then Tompkins County's largest travel business. After selling Beam Travel in
2002, he focused even more squarely on his real estate enterprise. Over the last six
decades, Lambrou Real Estate steadily grew into one of Ithaca's most successful local
businesses, and his tenants loved him. Many would often visit him even years after they
graduated and left the area.

When Gus redeveloped the property on 405-409 Eddy Street in 1982-84 (which he then
co-owned with his brother), he sparked a development boom that completely transformed
Collegetown. He also once owned the property on the corner of Seneca and Tioga Streets,
which was converted to what is now Ithaca's Hilton Garden Inn. When that project was
completed in 2005, it spurred the redevelopment of downtown Ithaca.

Consistent with his keen interest in politics and unremitting love for America and Greece,
Gus also worked closely with (former) Congressman Matt McHugh on Hellenic issues
abroad, and himself ran for alderman against the late Ethel Nichols in 1977. He still holds
the record for most votes cast for a Republican candidate in Ithaca's heavily Democratic
Fourth Ward, with 165. He was also a member of the local Rotary Club, and right until
the day before he passed away, he went to his office every day. He was a familiar
presence in Ithaca's business community.

A pillar of the local Greek American community, he helped many of his fellow Greeks
establish legal citizenship in this country. And he was staunch and faithful supporter of
his local church. He was always among the top five stewards annually of Saint Catherine
Greek Orthodox Church in downtown Ithaca, and had served its parish council as both
president and treasurer. He was also very well liked by many people in the wider Ithaca
community, and had many non-Greek friends who thought the world of him.

Above all else, Gus was a great family man. He never forgot his parents; he deeply loved
his brother; he was totally dedicated to his supremely devoted wife Maria; and was an
unwaveringly committed father to his three loving sons: Evan (Iris), Nick (Sharon) and
Paul (Andreani). Abbe Prevost's words, "The heart of a father is the masterpiece of

nature," barely do him justice, and his sons all went to college. Evan and Nick are
graduates of Washington University in St. Louis, and Paul is a graduate of Syracuse
University. Gus is also survived by six cherished and adoring grandchildren: Costa,
Andreas, Alex, Constantinos (Dina), Maria-Angela (Dina) and Apostolos. His eldest
grandson Costa is a recent graduate of Cornell.

Calling hours and funeral services will be held conjointly at St. Catherine's Church in
downtown Ithaca (corner of Seneca and Geneva Streets) on Monday, January 16.
Viewing will be at 9:30-11 AM. Funeral will follow at 11 AM until 12 PM. Funeral will
be officiated by Rev. Fr. Tom Parthenakis (pastor) and Dr. Emmanuel Giannelis (chanter).

A traditional makaria luncheon in honor of Gus's memory will be held with friends and
family at the Ithaca Country Club after the funeral. Burial will be at East Lawn Cemetery
in the spring. Funeral arrangements by Bangs Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers, the
Lambrou family respectfully requests that memorial donations be made to St. Catherine
Greek Orthodox Church (120 W. Seneca Street, Ithaca, NY 14850, TEL. 607-273-2767).

Monday, January 16, 2017 9:30 AM - 11:00 AM

St. Catherine Greek Orthodox Church 120 West Seneca Street Ithaca, New York 14850

Monday, January 16, 2017 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

St. Catherine Greek Orthodox Church 120 West Seneca Street Ithaca, New York 14850