Panagiotis Vasilios "Pete" Dovas, 63, owned the Penrose Diner

LIKE MANY immigrants, Pete Dovas looked upon America as the promised land.

Pete grew up in the small farming town of Karitsa, Greece, with no running water or electricity. After compulsory service in the Greek army, Pete decided to take the chance.

"He took a huge risk and leap of faith to come to America to live the American Dream," said his son, Vasilios "Bill" Dovas. "And he did live it."

Panagiotis Vasilios "Pete" Dovas, co-owner and manager of the Penrose Diner, the popular South Philadelphia landmark, died Wednesday of heart failure. He was 63 and lived in South Philadelphia.

Pete had a long struggle in the U.S. before he became an entrepreneur. Arriving in the '70s, he started out as a dishwasher and potato peeler at a diner in East Rutherford, N.J., and worked his way up to cook, then head cook.

He saved his pennies and was able to buy the diner in 1980. One of the advantages of working at that eatery was meeting a comely young waitress named Anne Marie Grimm. They married in 1980.

Pete must have been careful with his money, because he eventually was able to take over three more New Jersey diners, in Hackettstown, Sparta and Belvidere.

He came to Philadelphia in 1996 and became part-owner of the Penrose Diner, at 2016 Penrose Ave.

It was not in very good shape, very rundown and neglected. And the food was borderline bad. It needed a lot of work, and Pete was willing to do it.

Eventually, the diner shaped up. It began to shine inside and out, and the food, with Pete Davos' culinary expertise, became the talk of the neighborhood, and beyond.

Pete had two loves: the diner and his family. He worked long hours, seven days a week, and loved it.

He had some health problems and family members urged him to retire. He would hear none of it. He had a dream of keeling over in the diner someday and that would be it.

It didn't happen that way. He took another of his many trips back to Greece a couple of months ago, and became ill there. His children brought him home, and he died in his home surrounded by family.

"He was strong, determined and stubborn," said his daughter Eirini P. Dovas. "The diner was his life. It was what he did every day. He couldn't face being without it."

His son wrote in a tribute: "I want to stress the love and determination our father had for his family. And the way of showing this was to work as hard as he possibly could to provide for his family. He made sure we never wanted for anything.

"One thing I will never forget is how our father melted every time his grandchildren were around. I've never seen him light up the way he did when they were around."

Pete's wife died in 2005 at age 52. Besides his son, who now runs the diner, and daughter, he is survived by another daughter, Christina Dovas, and two grandchildren.

Services: 11 a.m. today at St. Luke Greek Orthodox Church, 35 N. Malin Road, Broomall. Friends may call at 10 a.m. at the church. Interment will be in Arlington Cemetery, Drexel Hill.