Tributes have flowed for Queensland business icon and community leader, Jim Samios, following his death this month at the age of 88.
According to The Courier Mail, Jim first migrated to Australia from Greece in 1951 and set up Belle Vue Cafe in Warwick in 1956.
Jim ran the café for a quarter of a century before establishing his second Palmerin Street business -Samios Mini Mart, which remains open to this day.
When he wasn’t working on the business, the Greek migrant was also known for his community work at The Lions Club of Warwick for three terms, the former Warwick Skillshare organisation and the Warwick RSL Memorial Club. In 2004, Jim received a Medal of the Order of Australia for his contributions to the community.
Jim’s son, George Samios, remembered him for his kindness and generous spirit towards all those who knew him.
“He was the best father in the world,” George told The Courier Mail.
“He loved to have all the dinner parties and he was a real social butterfly. He loved cooking Greek food for everyone, and he would always say, ‘When can we have the next one?’.”
Fellow Queensland business icon, Danny Lyons, who is immortalised alongside Jim in the Legends Laneway beside Warwick Town Hall, also remembered the Greek businessman’s warm presence.
“He’s been a stalwart of the community for many years. He was a great icon of business in Warwick, and he did a lot of good in our community,” Lyons said.
Jim is survived by his children George and Katrina, their respective partners Therese and Phillip, his grandchild Chrysanthe, and extended family and friends in both Queensland and Greece.
Source: The Courier Mail.
