Brockton pizza shop owner's memory lives on through new sign

BROCKTON – Supreme House of Pizza had a visitor this week all the way from Georgia, said Supreme co-owner Manny Lambrakis, and he wasn’t just at Supreme for the food.

The man, a former Brockton resident, came to pay his respects for Lambrakis’ father, James “Jimmy” Lambrakis, who died last August at age 65 after owning and operating the Brockton pizza place since 1974.

Lambrakis said customers and former customers regularly stop by to share memories of his father, whose picture beams down from the walls of the restaurant.

“The people of Brockton have always been good to us,” Lambrakis said, “and customers have been great during this time.”

Though his father is gone, his presence is still alive in the family business he built for 40 years.

The most recent tribute to Jimmy is Supreme’s new sign, a replacement for the sign that was broken last summer when a car ran into it.

Clean and bright, the colors of the Greek flag, the new sign also includes an inscription: “In loving memory of Jimmy, we’ll always love you.”

Lambrakis said the last conversation he ever had with his father was about replacing their old sign.

Jimmy, who was on vacation in Greece when he died, was on the phone with his son earlier that day, discussing the first draft of plans for a new sign outside the business.

He died that day of a heart attack, leaving Lambrakis, his mother Sofia, and his three sisters.

After Jimmy died, and the new Supreme sign was being completed, Lambrakis thought it was only right that it bear a tribute to his father.

The first few months after his father died were hard, Lambrakis said, and “it’s still tough sometimes,” but he and his sisters Elaine and Theoni have started sharing ownership responsibilities.

It’s what Jimmy would want, Lambrakis said, and they’re supported by the employees at Supreme, who are “like family,” and by the community.

As they move forward, he and his siblings don’t plan to change much about the business.

“We’re just trying to keep it as much the same as possible,” Lambrakis said. “It pretty much is the same, except my father isn’t around.”