One of Charlotte, North Carolina' best-loved diners is Gus' Sir Beef, with the tag line ‘Fresh, My Farm,’ the unusual way that the late Gus Bacogeorge, who opened it, used to let customers know he grew most of the vegetables they'd eat.

His wife Calliope died in January at 88, and as her funeral procession passed the place she and her husband created, a line of people stood outside, cheered and released balloons in her honor, said Charlotte Magazine.

Their family is carrying on the tradition of their dad Constantine and Mama Gus as she was affectionately called. “She was as much a part of this as Dad was,” says their son Thrace Bacogeorge, 55, who grew up working in Gus’ and has run it since 2000 with help from his brother, George, 58. “It was their legacy.”

Gus was born in Greece, where he worked as police officer before coming to the United States in the 1950's, to New York and then Washington before a cousin told him in 1957 to move to Charlotte. “Three hundred bucks in his pocket,” Thrace said. “He lived the American dream.”