Ed. note: George Mangouras passed away Nov. 30. For information regarding memorial services, please see the end of this story)

For what many fear may be the last time, George Mangouras has said goodbye.

At an emotional farewell Nov. 20 the longtime owner of George’s Place, stricken with cancer, was brought to the restaurant he opened 32 years ago and spent several hours visiting with friends and family.

“Thank you very much to all the people, for years and years, I love,” he said. “As long as I live, I’ll remember all of them. This is a beautiful community and beautiful people.”

He added thanks to his wife, Froni, and all those who sent flowers and get well wishes to his hospital room at Evergreen Medical Center.

Mangouras, 71, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of Lymphoma last month, a cancer that spreads through the body’s immune system.

Waiting in a line that at times stretched out the door last Thursday, people came in to talk, commiserate or cry upon greeting him in his wheelchair, oxygen line quietly supplementing his breath as he inhaled.

Through the years, Kirkland’s oldest family run-restaurant has been a mainstay of downtown businesses since opening in 1976 and a popular meeting place for local residents and various organizations. A number of items on the menu reflect the family’s Greek heritage and are named after family members or local street names. It’s now owned and operated by his son Pete Mangouras and Derek MacKenzie, who recently remodeled as “George’s”.

But to many, it’s still George’s Place.

One of his longtime friends who came by to visit was Jo Dooley, former owner of Smokey Joe’s Bar — now known as Tiki Joe’s. She recalled the days of running their businesses side-by-side, with the former Greek sailor offering his assistance as an impromptu kitchen for hungry bar patrons. Standing with her was Larry Kinney, a former local Babe Ruth League baseball commissioner who remembered Mangouras’s support of several Little League teams over the years.

“He must have touched thousands of people,” he said.

Alton Gregor, a former principal at Twain, Peter Kirk and Sandburg elementary schools, drove down from Bellingham with his wife to see the former restauranteur. He met with another retired principal, Russ McClintock and retired teacher Ila Morrow and reminisced over informal meetings they once held there to discuss school business.

Mangouras’s appearance, arranged by his wife and two children, was organized a few days in advance after the family was given the prognosis that he had only weeks to live. They made phone calls and tried to reach everyone they knew through the restaurant, where they all work. Mostly, the news was spread by word-of-mouth.

“I’m still trying to find a little boy he was asking about,” said his daughter, Athina Athan. “His name’s Elijah, but I don’t know his last name. I’ll have to call the synagogue … Dad wants to see him.”

A photo album filled with Polaroid photos, drawings and get well messages sat on the bar nearby. The camera was taken out of storage and paired with some art material near the cash register, encouraging friends and regular customers to say hello while Mangouras was in the hospital. After several weeks of cancer treatments caused his condition to worsen, the decision was made to stop and return home.

Several Kirkland Police officers, some uniformed and some not, stopped by to pay their respects. A construction foreman from a nearby building project stopped in to tell how the work was going. A couple showed him their newborn baby. Several times, Mangouras’s visitors found it difficult to hold back the tears.

Mangouras wanted them all to know that the restaurant was in good hands and not to worry. He whispered in Greek into his daugher’s ear.

“He says he wants to say goodbye, but he wasn’t sure how,” she said.

After a few hours, Mangouras wandered over to his favorite seat near the kitchen, number eight, and greeted a few of the restaurant’s customers. Part-owner MacKenzie said George’s family was like an extended family to him and the restaurant like a second home. He spends a considerable amount of time at the restaurant, but when he and Pete took over the ownership of the business last year, they immediately offered Mangouras a job to stay on.

“It’s still his baby,” MacKenzie said. “It always will be.”

The Mangouras family announced a memorial service will be held for the deceased. Services will be held Thursday, Dec. 4 at 10:30 a.m. in St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church. The chapel is located at 2100 Boyer Ave. E. in Seattle. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested donations be made in his name to the cancer-research/patient care fund MadHouse Project. Donations can be made at madhouse.org or at George’s Restaurant in Downtown Kirkland.

Kendall Watson can be reached at kwatson@kirklandreporter.com or 425-822-9166, ext. 5052.