photo by: Contributed Photo

George Kritos, founder and longtime owner of The Mad Greek restaurant, dances at a wedding in Greece in 2015.

As a paramedic, Charlie Hiersche has dealt with many patients who have had COVID-19, but it wasn’t until his stepfather got the virus that he came to know the whole process from contraction to death.

George Kritos, founder of the Massachusetts Street restaurant The Mad Greek and Hiersche’s stepfather, died from COVID-19 on Thursday in Thessaloniki, Greece. He was 70 years old.

Kritos owned The Mad Greek from 1988 — when he opened the restaurant — to 2015, when he sold it to family friends and moved to Greece with his wife, Panagiota “Peggy” Kritos, to retire.

photo by: Contributed Photo

George and Peggy Kritos in 1989.

Since, he has spent only about one month per year in Lawrence. This year, he came back in March, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic he spent about three months longer here than expected. Kritos returned to Greece the first week of July, and tested positive for the virus soon after that. Hiersche isn’t sure if he contracted it while traveling or prior.

Hiersche had followed up with Kritos to make sure he had arrived safely, but didn’t hear anything back. In mid-July, his mom, Peggy, told him that Kritos was in the ICU. Kritos messaged Hiersche on Facebook that he was OK, but unable to talk. On July 17, Hiersche heard that Kritos had been put on a ventilator. He died almost a month later, on Aug. 13.

It was “very difficult” to hear about his stepfather’s sickness and death from across the world, Hiersche said.

“I want to be there for my mom. I wanted to be able to be there for the funeral. I wanted to go whenever I found out he got it and was in the ICU for it,” Hiersche said. “He was unable to talk…but it would’ve been nice to even be in the same room as him and hold his hand.”

Hiersche was unable to go to Greece because he is not a citizen and the European Union has banned travelers from the United States.

Hiersche said that when someone dies, “you think of every single thing you haven’t said to them.” Kritos had been in his life since he was 2 years old, and Hiersche ran The Mad Greek with his mom and stepfather for ten years.

photo by: Contributed Photo

George Kritos and Charlie Hiersche in 2017.

To people who don’t believe in the existence of the virus or who prefer not to wear masks, Hiersche weighed the importance of the small act of wearing a mask in protecting others.

“Even if it’s a one percent chance of it helping someone else…it’s such a minor inconvenience to potentially help other people,” he said.

Hundreds of people have reached out to Hiersche about Kritos’ death, Hiersche said, noting that Kritos had two sets of families: his Greek family and his restaurant family.

“George was always very adamant that he could not have done (his restaurant) without quality people – quality employees,” Hiersche said. “He was huge on making sure the employees knew how important they were. He was also really big on giving people chances and building them up and letting them live to their full potential.”

Theo Tagtalianidis, who took over ownership of The Mad Greek in 2015, described Kritos as “one of the most honest people that you ever meet in your life.”

He called him hard working, a straight shooter and “a fun person too at the same time.”

photo by: Contributed Photo

George Kritos, left, and Theo Tagtalianidis outside The Mad Greek.

Tagtalianidis said he spoke to Kritos every day throughout the pandemic. When Kritos returned to Greece they stayed in touch, even when Kritos was first admitted to the hospital. One day when Tagtalianidis asked Kritos how he was doing Kritos responded, “So, so,” and that was the last thing Tagtalianidis heard from him.

“I lost a dear friend,” he said. “He will be missed a lot, by many people, not just me.

“This community lost a very creative and very important member… His absence will be difficult to fill.”

Brad Ziegler, a Lawrence restaurateur, first met Kritos in his first year in college in the late-’80s as a customer at his restaurant. Then, Ziegler and Kritos became friends when Ziegler also became a downtown business owner.

Ziegler said Kritos had an infectious laugh, was a bit of a prankster and always found the positive in every situation. If someone joined Kritos for lunch “your stomach would hurt from laughing by the time you were done eating,” Ziegler said.

photo by: Contributed Photo

George Kritos pictured outside his home in Greece in 2017.

In a post about his stepdad on Facebook, Hiersche called Kritos his second father and one of his best friends.

“I am grateful for every single second I got to spend with you George, even when it was really hard,” he wrote. “You’re a man that I had so many differences with but I loved with all my heart. I would give anything to hear your voice one more time.”