Sitting in the funeral home chapel Saturday morning, the sadness of the moment was compounded when it occurred to me that with the passing of my friend Christ Castanis, quite likely so goes the history of what was a vibrant Greek community in Columbus.

Christ, with his prodigious memory, could have recounted in technicolor detail stories of Greek culture here, the restaurants owned by Greeks and throughout the 50s, 60s and 70s, the festivals at the city auditorium notable for tables laden with Mediterranean food and balalaika bands.

Maybe a record exists. I hope so.

Christ, who along with his Greek immigrant father, Steve, ran Steve’s Cafe, a downtown institution for more than a half century, died on Monday. He was 92.

Steve’s was not only a classic diner with a devoted following, it was a living space for the Castanis family.

At times that family presence could be large. There were the Castanises: Steve, Christ, Christ’s wife, Katina, and their three girls, Alexandra, Voula and Maria

And then there was the family of regulars who found community in the warm embrace of the cafe and its proprietors.

Marion Whitley in a column for this newspaper in 2017 describes her aging father’s relationship with the cafe:

There, he’d find relief from loneliness, the inanity of TV and the nagging need just to be out of the house. At Steve’s, he could slide onto a stool, and order a cup of coffee with the “ole boys” at the counter. They were retirees, widowers like him, perhaps, Saturday morning quarterbackers, for sure, or an angler holding forth on an 12-pound catfish out of Moore’s Creek.

As Marion implies, a visit to Steve’s was to plug into the heart and soul of downtown Columbus.

Mid-morning Christ, in white apron over white T-shirt, could be found sitting at the worn yellow Formica counter typing out the lunch specials, making carbon copies on a portable manual typewriter.

If you happened in around that time, you might find your name atop that day’s menu.

The youngest child, Maria, was playing in her private nook in the front window behind the cash register.

Katina was in the kitchen hustling the cooks to get orders out.

When Christ closed the cafe in 1994, the place had been in operation since the Depression.

Steve had retired a few years earlier, and the son was ready for a change of scenery, maybe to Skopelos, the island where his wife, Katina, grew up and where his father lived as a boy.

In retirement he and Katina were able to enjoy two six-month sojourns in Skopelos.

When asked if her parents ever considered returning to the old country permanently, his daughter Voula Stanback said no, that the six grandchildren and two great grandchildren were here.

More than once I ran into Christ in the book section at Palmer Home Thrift Store. He was a lively conversationalist, always eager to reminisce about old times.

“He loved to go out to the Chinese buffet,” said Voula, who added there had been a lot of people show up for the visitation Friday evening.

That’s no surprise. If they were of a certain age, chances are they, as I do, cherish memories of the Castanis family and time spent in their cafe.

Birney Imes ([email protected]) is the former publisher of The Dispatch.

Birney Imes III is the immediate past publisher of The Dispatch.