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Obituary

Ex-restaurant owner dies

By LESLIE PAREDES
Published March 4, 2005

Jim Trezevant tells a story about the Palios brothers' restaurant. Regulars would walk in every day around 3 in the afternoon, drink iced tea and insult each other.

"John opened the first day and made less than $3," Trezevant said. "But John wasn't really working with an eye toward money. He just figured if he did everything right, life would be okay. And I don't know anybody that's had a better life. Not anybody."

Trezevant tells the story because his friend of 40 years, John Palios, died Sunday (Feb. 27, 2005) of pancreatic cancer. He was 66.

And that is how Mr. Palios would want to be remembered: as a man surrounded by friends.

Friends were what Mr. Palios missed most after he and his brother, George, closed Palios Brothers' Fried Chicken and Seafood Restaurant on S MacDill Avenue in August 2003 after more than 40 years.

His daughter, Maria Xenick, said her father was tired after 18 years of 10-hour days. He lived in Palma Ceia, not far from the restaurant.

"The only reason he was sad about closing the restaurant was the people," she said. "Every single day they'd talk about sports and politics and their families. There were real true friendships that formed there."

Trezevant was enough of a regular that he used the restaurant as an unofficial office. That's how he came to know John Palios, the person.

"He was giving," said Trezevant. "Sometimes he'd talk about how hard it was to pay his bills, then a kid from the high school would come selling ads for their program and he'd buy it. I'd ask him how come and he'd just say, "Well, that's what I'm here for.' But he really believed it."

For lawyer Barry Cohen, Mr. Palios was a friend in humor. The two had known each other since 10th grade at Plant High School. Cohen said he once copied an essay Mr. Palios wrote that was so poorly done that both boys earned an F.

"We constantly joked each other," Cohen said. "I used to send these postcards of big fat models with little notes on them that said, "These people got this way from eating Palios chicken."' After finding that Cohen was the culprit behind the pictures, Mr. Palios retaliated with libel allegations and a fake arrest.

According to Xenick, her father was certainly giving and a jokester, but his greatest passion was his faith and the love for his family, "He was just perfect," she said.

Survivors include his wife, Artemis; two daughters, Donna Trakas of Jacksonville and Maria Xenick of Tampa; a son, Michael of Tallahassee; a brother, George of Tampa; a sister, Helen Kalamaras; and three grandchildren.

The family requests that donations be made to the St. John Greek Orthodox Church: John Palios Memorial Fund.

[Last modified March 3, 2005, 09:13:05]