Relative remembers Ann Arbor family believed to be dead in fire

Demetri and Joanna Alexandropoulos were retired Ann Arbor restaurant owners who often kept to themselves, but were committed to their family, their nephew said.

Their son, John, who lived with them as an adult, worked as an independent computer consultant and had a knack for assembling things.

This afternoon, investigators found three bodies believed to be theÂ AlexandropoulosÂ family members in the rubble of their Waverly Road home in the city's Vernon Downs community.

The bodies have not yet been identified, and the cause of the early morning blaze is under investigation. Authorities say it may have started in the basement, but there’s no reason to believe it’s suspicious.

Three bodies were found inside this shell of a home Sunday.

Ioannis Moutsatsos of Arlington, Mass., remembers how his aunt and uncle let him stay with them when he moved to America from Greece in 1977Â before his freshman year at University of Michigan.Â

They owned Tower's Restaurant, a cafeteria-style joint on the city’s south side, and gave him a job as a bus boy.

“They were intense,” he said. “When you have to seat a thousand people in an hour, you have to be intense. I felt very indebted to them for taking me into their home.”

The couple met in the mid-1960s when Moutsatsos’ aunt was living in the small Greek island of Chios.

Joanna Alexandropoulos was one of few girls in her community to graduate from high school and did so with perfect grades. She later worked as a tutor.

“They still remember what a dynamite lady she was,” he said.

Demetri Alexandropoulos, who was from the Peloponnese region of Greece, was living in the Manitoba province of Canada, working in the mines.

His friend was a pen pal with the woman Alexandropoulos would later marry. His friend was frustrated the woman wouldn’t send a picture of herself and tossed one of her letters in the trash. Demetri Alexandropoulos picked it up, was impressed and began to write to Joanna.

They married in Greece, moved to Canada for a couple years, and then Detroit.

Eventually, they settled in Ann Arbor and got into the restaurant business, first opening Joanna’s Restaurant near campus.Â

“They were always involved with a young crowd over there, and they really liked it,” Moutsatsos said.

The couple later opened Tower's Restaurant, and sold both in the late 1980s. Demetrius Alexandropolous stayed in the restaurant business, and his wife worked as a cashier, including at Rite-Aid, before both retired.

The couple enjoyed gardening, particularly growing tomatoes.

But they kept to themselves, which had Moutsatsos concerned as they grew older.

“Even with the Greek community there and so on, they were not that involved,” he said.

Their son, John, was “brilliant,” but “never found his academic path,” Moutsatsos said.

“Electronics and computers were in his blood,” he said.Â

He enjoyed hanging out at Radio Shack.Â He also had an interest in biology, and would chat with Moutsatsos about stem cell research and genetic engineering.

"My aunt and uncle were very proud of their son," Moutsatsos said. "They were a very close family."

Lee Higgins covers crime and courts for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at leehiggins@annarbor.com or 734-623-2527.