As friends and family gathered Friday, Oct. 20, to mourn the passing of Gus Andy, 85, proprietor of the La Mer Beachfront Resort, they remembered the journey of a young boy from Greece who embodied the pursuit of knowledge, the love of family, the passion for hard work and the perseverance to overcome any obstacle in his path.
Andy, who died Oct. 16 in Coral Gables, Florida, was the husband of Fotini Andy, father of four children and grandfather of four children. His daughter, Maria Andy Tettamanti, eulogized her father, recalling his life’s journey as one that spanned continents and generations, “standing as a testament to the power of dedication, resilience and community spirit.”
Born Costas Antoniades on April 21, 1938, in the village of Velvento in northern Greece, Andy was raised amid the “lush peach orchards, cobblestone streets and majestic mountain vistas that defined his hometown,” Tettamanti said.
“At the tender age of 13, Gus embarked on a life-altering journey, immigrating to Chicago, Illinois, with his family to escape the tumultuous aftermath of the Greek cold war led by communist forces.”
Tettamanti said the trajectory of her father’s journey took many twists and turns.
“Growing up, my father spoke at length about the horrors of the Greek cold war,” she said. “His father would vanish for months, food was scarce, and life felt like a living nightmare. Velvento was in dire peril.”
In 1951, the entire Antoniades family fled, crossing the Atlantic Ocean to Ellis Island. “Over the years and many dinner conversations with my father,” his daughter said, “this particular memory surfaced often, as the family’s journey to America was long, traumatic and oh so frightening for a boy of just 13 years old.
“Like many of the Greek diaspora, the family of five found themselves in Chicago. Not a single one of them spoke English. They did not have a dollar to their names. But what they did have is gumption. And smarts. And grit. And good ol’ fashioned hustle.”
From dishwashing to janitorial duties to zipping around town as a paperboy, Tettamanti said, members of the entire family worked together to support themselves.
“Gus touted his dishwashing job as the cure to his teen acne, compliments of the steamer,” she said. “He attributed learning English to conversing with lonely restaurant patrons while busing tables. Working these low-brow jobs clearly left an indelible mark on my father and forever changed the course of his life, not to mention the touching manner in which he treated his own employees later on in life.”
The family moved to Miami, and Andy graduated from the University of Florida, where he received a bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture. He then attended the University of Oklahoma, where he received a master’s in city and regional planning. During a summer at the University of Mexico, he studied economics and Spanish. At Florida State University, he studied business. He also attended Florida International University to study the hospitality industry.
A true Hellenic at heart, he married a Greek girl, meeting Fotini Mitilineu while his brother was teaching at her college in Kozani, Greece, in 1965. They married after a two-year long-distance relationship filled with handwritten letters, Tettamanti said.
“Gus was not a hopeless romantic, but always took care of Fotini, and Gus became ‘Fofo’s’ North Star,” she said. “My mother bravely followed him to a foreign country, leaving behind her entire family in Greece. The newlyweds eventually settled in New Jersey, working at the family’s cotton candy shop on the Wildwood boardwalk, and they eventually acquired a rundown, musty and dusty motor inn called the La Mer.”
While most people have hobbies such as fishing, traveling, reading or pickleball, working at the La Mer became her dad’s hobby.
“Work was his passion,” Tettamanti said. “He worked seven days a week and was often woken up in the middle of the night when customers mistakenly locked themselves out of their rooms.
“He made certain all four of his children were well-versed in every scope of the operation, from the front-desk duties, to housekeeping and checking the pool’s chemistry, to the art of plunging a clogged toilet. He magically metamorphosed the once-dilapidated motor inn into one of Cape May’s most luxurious properties.”
Andy also showed a “deep affection for his employees,” she said.
“An immigrant at his core, Dad made sure the hotel’s employee breakroom was stocked with coffee, bagels, peanut butter, cream cheese, cinnamon rolls, doughnuts and other diabetic delights,” Tettamanti said.
“Dad personally made runs to Sam’s Club to make sure his employees, who often hailed from faraway places such as Moldova, Poland, Ireland, Romania, Bulgaria and beyond, would, at the very least, have something to munch on. Simply said, he loved La Mer and all the colorful characters that came with it.”
Tettamanti described the La Mer as “a labor of love” that her father continued to operate until he died.
“While Gus was an immensely successful businessman, his heart remained grounded in his humble Hellenic roots,” she said.
Throughout his life, Andy became an integral part of the communities in Miami, Cape May and his hometown of Velvento, Greece.
“He was a tireless supporter of numerous causes, including The American Hellenic Institute, autism research, the Archimedean Academy Charter School, Mount Sinai and Cooper hospitals, the University of Florida, Stockton College, East Lynne Theater, the Cape May Chamber of Commerce, the Mid-Atlantic Center of the Arts in Cape May and his Greek Orthodox Christian churches in both New Jersey and Florida. His contributions extended all the way to Velvento, where an elementary school library now bears his name,” Tettamanti said.
“He left impossibly large shoes to fill. In fact, my dad is the physical embodiment of the American dream.”
Against all odds, he achieved “success and prosperity through hard work, determination and initiative,” she continued. “In Cape May, he was asked to name a street he personally developed, and being the modest man he was, he chose to fittingly name it Velvento. Through intrepid real estate acquisitions and investments, Dad became an extremely successful businessman, yet remained unpretentious and true to his simple village roots.
“His remarkable influence and inspiration will persist through his family and in the memories of those who knew him.”
Contact the author, Karen Knight, at kknight@cmcherald.com.
