Riverhead Rotary honors late Wading River diner owner Andy Drepanis for helping veterans
When local veterans needed a hot meal, a warm coat or simply a helping hand, Andrew “Andy” Drepanis rarely needed to be asked twice.
For roughly a decade, the longtime owner of the Greek Island Diner in Wading River provided Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, clothing and other necessities to veterans in need.
Mr. Drepanis died Jan. 8 at age 63 following a brief battle with cancer. On Wednesday, Riverhead Rotary honored his family for the support he and the diner provided over the years.
His wife, Marian Drepanis, said their involvement began about 10 years ago after the couple was asked to make a donation.
“Andy and I were always ready to give,” she told the Riverhead News-Review on Thursday.
They began providing holiday dinners to veterans living together at a facility in Yaphank. When the program later moved to a house in Riverhead, the Drepanis family continued helping.
And it went well beyond food.
Whenever organizers called seeking coats, underwear, T-shirts, socks or other necessities, the family gathered the requested items and delivered them.
“He was a constant supplier of food for anything to do with veterans,” Riverhead Rotary member Pat Wiles said. “He was an overall generous guy who was really good to veterans.”
Helping others was simply part of who Mr. Drepanis was, his wife said.
“He was very happy that he could help someone, no matter who they were, where they came from or what they were going through,” she said. “He was always there to help someone.”
Mr. Drepanis opened the Greek Island Diner in 2007 after learning the restaurant business while working alongside his father in Jamaica, Queens, according to an obituary published by Alexander-Rothwell Funeral Home.
The diner became more than a family business. It was another way for Mr. Drepanis to take care of people.
Marian and Andy Drepanis were married for 45 years and knew each other for five years before that. Receiving the Rotary recognition in his honor left the family proud — and emotional.
“I was with him for 50 years, so I know the man he was,” Mrs. Drepanis said. “He was just an amazing person, and he would give his heart to someone.”
She remembered him as “a great husband, a great grandfather, a great father.”
Then she put the loss in the only words that felt right.
“God made a mistake when they took him, believe me,” she said.
Mrs. Drepanis said the family intends to continue supporting veterans if a planned group residence opens in Riverhead.
Mr. Wiles described Wednesday’s presentation as a moving tribute to Mr. Drepanis and the family that stood beside him.
“There were some very nice things said about this family — what they do for veterans, as well as other people,” he said.
