Coffee roaster John Prestogeorge had passion for product
John Prestogeorge tantalized the Pittsburgh area with his charm and coffee-roasting skill for 50 years.
His store, Prestogeorge Fine Foods in the Strip District, sells more than 200 varieties of coffee and as many kinds of tea. He created the J. P. Hearty Blend 40 years ago and sold 300 pounds of that variety on a typical Saturday.
"He brewed coffee for himself, for his friends and his family," said his son, Stan Prestogeorge of Wilkins Township.
John Prestogeorge of Churchill died Friday, July 30, 2010, of cancer in ManorCare Health Services in Monroeville. He was 83.
He was born Oct. 18, 1926, in Penn Hills to Greek immigrants Domna and Chrystosom Prestogeorge. His parents ran a restaurant in East Pittsburgh.
Mr. Prestogeorge served during World War II in the Army Air Corps as a mechanic and meteorology technician on transport planes in Biloxi, Miss.
He met his future wife, Christine Dimitriou, in Ypapanti, the Presentation of Christ Greek Church in East Pittsburgh. The couple were married 50 years and enjoyed traveling throughout Europe, especially Greece, as well as the Caribbean and Mexico.
Stan Prestogeorge fondly recalled family vacations in which his father would wake up the three boys and carry each of them down to the station wagon where he made a little bed for them. They would sleep until daylight when his father would pull over at a roadside park, and the family would have breakfast.
His father opened the Olde Fashion Coffee Shoppe in the Miracle Mile Shopping Center in Monroeville in the early 1960s, long before the specialty coffee craze. The shop moved to Greengate Mall in Greensburg and was later renamed Bavarian Chalet.
Terry Pegnato, a friend of Mr. Prestogeorge and an employee in his Strip District store for 23 years, fell victim to his coffee spell.
"I wasn't ever a coffee drinker until I started there," said Pegnato of Penn Hills. "I'm a believer."
Mr. Prestogeorge frequently could be found at the counter, blending his coffees, chatting with customers and working his magic on them.
"He would tell them all about our coffee, how good it was, and they should try it," Pegnato recalled. "Most of the time, they bought it."
Then some customers would say, "'That dear man just sold me coffee, and we don't even drink it.'"
His coffees were so popular that the family encountered fans wherever they went. A woman who had 3 pounds of mocha java shipped to Hawaii every month met Mr. and Mrs. Prestogeorge while they were on vacation and gave them a tour of the islands.
Stan Prestogeorge remembered running into another fan while he and his wife were on their honeymoon cruise in the middle of the Caribbean.
In addition to his wife and son, survivors include sons Chris of Frederick, Md., and Ted of Scranton; a sister, Irene Stefanos of Oakmont; and three grandchildren.
Mr. Prestogeorge was preceded in death by a brother, George, and a sister, Selma.
Friends will be received from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. today in Patrick T. Lanigan Funeral Home, 700 Linden Ave., East Pittsburgh. A Trisagion will be prayed at 7:30 this evening in the funeral home.
A viewing will take place in Ypapanti at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, followed by the funeral service. Burial with military honors will take place in Grandview Cemetery in North Versailles.
The family asks that memorials be in the form of donations to Ypapanti, P.O. Box J, East Pittsburgh, PA 15112.
