TAMPA, Fla. — George Guito, a beloved employee of a local Tampa staple, passed away after more than 60 years of service in the industry. He was 76.
The Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City announced the passing of its general manager on Sunday due to a series of illnesses. Guito had been employed at the restaurant for nearly 62 years.
In a Facebook post, the restaurant detailed Guito's close relationships with its owners. Cesar Gonzmart and Adela Hernandez Gonzmart, the restaurant's third-generation owners, looked at Guito as a son, while its fourth-generation owners, Richard Gonzmart and Casey Gonzmart, Sr., felt he was as close as a brother.
But to its fifth-generation owners, Andrea Gonzmart Williams and Casey Gonzmart, Jr., he was always Uncle George, a "dependable man of few words" and "ever-present force."
"He did whatever it took to keep the restaurant running smoothly," the post said.
Last September, ABC Action News profiled Guito, where we learned he started working at the Columbia when he was only 15 years old. His salary? $35 a week.
Guito wore many different hats during his time as an employee, from hanging the eye-catching chandelier in the Don Quixote dining room to cutting meat for hours as a certified butcher—in fact, Cesar even paid for Guito's school.
“We have lost the last of the greats who spent his entire teen and adult life at the Columbia,” Richard said on Sunday.
Guito was born in Tampa, where he grew up in a working-class family: his father was a cigar maker by day and a janitor by night, while his mother cleaned in a hospital. At the time, he made $15 more than his mother.
Marilyn Monroe, Carol Burnett and Frank Sinatra were among the multiple celebrities that passed through Columbia's doors, which Guito marveled at.
But more amazing to Guito were the restaurant's free meals to employees. As a child who knew the feeling of going hungry, the food was a "godsend," the Facebook post said.
"I really, really enjoy working here and coming to work every morning and do whatever needs to be done," Guito said back in September.
For Andrea, it's like a piece of her childhood is gone.
“I cannot imagine the Columbia without him," she said in a statement. "He had more stories than anyone else. He could connect the dots when others couldn’t. I’m very much at a loss for words.”
But Guito's impact won't be forgotten anytime soon. Not only is his name etched into the sidewalk in front of the restaurant alongside the rest of the family, but a few steps away is a dedicated tile.
“GEORGE GUITO, DEVOTED SINCE 1962 TO THE COLUMBIA," it reads. Friends, family and customers alike can agree—he was.
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