Tributes are pouring in for Greek-born Theodora (Loula) Zantiotis whose extraordinary life ended peacefully at Sacred Heart Hospice, Darlinghurst, on Remembrance Day.
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Loula was a well-known and much-loved member of the Gunnedah community she adopted in 1955 when she joined her husband Peter in the popular Busy Bee Café in Conadilly Street.
Born in 1932 on the Greek island of Kythera, between Pelponis and Crete, Loula migrated to Australia to join her brother and sister at Katoomba in November 1954.
She had been staying with a relative in Sydney when she met the dashing young Peter Zantiotis at a dance in Paddington Town Hall. Peter had already settled in Gunnedah having sailed to Australia by himself in 1936 at the tender age of 12, to join his father Lambros who had purchased the Busy Bee in the 1930s. His sisters and mother Anastasia came later.
After a whirlwind romance, Peter Zantiotis brought his young bride to Gunnedah, where their lives revolved around the Busy Bee and later their three children, Anastasia (Tass), Lambros James (Jim) and Emmanuel (Manni).
The Busy Bee in its hey day employed six people, including a cook, and kitchen hands and waiters and opened seven days a week.
When Peter Zantiotis died in 1996, Loula took over the management of the Busy Bee with the support of family and friends.
Out of necessity she reduced the items on the menu but became very well known for her toasted sandwiches and orange freeze, all delivered with a warm smile and friendly service.
Loula’s customers became her friends and many a conversation was held in a back stall in between customers.
The café became somewhat of a tourist attraction, with its decorative walls and ceilings, original counters and booths -the white china was monogrammed, the teapots solid silver and the mirrors and lighting art deco and, of course, the legendary milkshake maker, with its tin drink containers - for the coldest milkshakes - lining the shelves.
It was a sad day in 2006 when Loula, surrounded by her family, slipped a new padlock on the door saying “yassou and thanks for the memories”.
The National Museum of Australia, in 2013, purchased a collection of the Busy Bee's contents and fittings to be displayed in Canberra.
Mass will be offered for Loula at St Spyridon Greek Orthodox Church in Kingsford on Monday. Loula asked that in lieu of flowers, donations be collected for the restoration of her childhood parish church, Agio Georgio, Karvounades, on Kythera.