Obituary of Antoni Koutroulakis

With great sadness, we are announcing the passing of our father and fellow workmate, Antoni. Born in Sykea, Laconia in the Spartan region of Greece. He is predeceased by his father, Kostantinos, his mother, Panayiota, (Koutsogiannopoulos) his wife Argyro “Rita” (Karambelas), daughter, Sophie and his siblings George, and Zoe (Mitsopoulos). Antoni is survived by his workmate sons Costa, Sam and Peter, his grandson Anthony and many nieces and nephews. Antoni came to Montreal, Canada in February of 1957. Canadian winter was unknown to him, but he forged ahead and quickly established himself as a dependable workmate, setting an example for all who knew him.

Most would remember ‘Tony’ as the man who wouldn’t retire easily from an illustrious career in hospitality from Montreal, to New York City and to the Niagara Region. The Old Bank Bistro, his most recent crowning achievement known as “Niagara’s Celebration Destination”, opened in 2004 simply because Tony at the young age of 70 years old, was restless and with no interest in hobbies. We forged ahead along with him and, why not? We knew he’d be the first one to arrive in the morning and to remain until the last patron left late into the evening every single day. Tony’s dedication to his craft was immeasurable and the lifelong friendships that we forged at several locations throughout our career together were astonishing, simply because of dad.

Tony reluctantly retired at 65 and again at 90 years young in 2022. Spartans are built differently, and Tony didn’t want his own retirement celebration after the sale of businesses or any public accolades for all the successful achievements in his long life. We made sure we celebrated in private each and every day with him, to his last breath. We are welcoming family and friends at Benner Funeral Services, 1105 Benner Road in Fort Erie on Friday, November 14 from 6-9pm. A funeral mass will be held on Saturday, November 15 at 11am at the St. Katharine Greek Orthodox Church at 585 Niagara Street and Linwell Road in St. Catharines, Ontario. Interment will be a private family gathering. In lieu of flowers, kindly consider a donation to the St. Katharine Greek Orthodox Church to honour our dad. Online condolences at bennerfuneralservices.ca May his memory remain eternal.