Loved and Lost: Peter Misthos grew so many vegetables his family rarely had to buy any – NorthJersey.com

This story is part of Loved and Lost, a statewide media collaboration working to celebrate the life of every New Jersey resident who died of COVID-19. To learn more and submit a loved one’s name to be profiled, visit lovedandlostnj.com.

Peter Misthos was planning his retirement from his beloved ShopRite in Livingston — and hatching a plan to renovate a house in his beautiful hometown of Demonia in Greece “where everybody knows you and your business” — when he died at the age of 62.

Now, his two daughters hope to fix up the house in his honor — and for future generations to enjoy.

“He wanted to buy a house in Greece, redo the whole thing and just have somewhere for us all to go,” said daughter Marina Misthos-Lopez. “He had a house picked out. If it’s still available, my sister and I would like to purchase it and do it for him.”

Misthos visited his home country for a few weeks every year and also owned a condo in Florida where his girlfriend, Voula Markos, lived.

But he spent the bulk of his time in New Jersey working as a manager at the ShopRite, often pulling extra shifts even as he became an essential worker amid the beginnings of the pandemic. The Essex County Community College graduate joined the supermarket chain when he was 16 years old and attending West Orange High School.

And he spent the last 30 years of his life working in the Livingston store.

“He loved working in that ShopRite,” his daughter said. “That was his life right there. He liked getting to know his customers, and it was close to home.”

Outside of work, Misthos liked to spend hours scouring the aisles at Home Depot and strolling through Verona Park near McLoone’s Boathouse in West Orange. At home, he often barbequed, joked around with family and, for the last 15 years, tended to his backyard vegetable garden.

“He would grow so many. We rarely had to buy them,” Misthos-Lopez said.

She remembered him as a generally strict and stern father who became more relaxed after his divorce about two decades ago as his daughters — Maria and Amanda — matured. The dad jokes came. So did the advice. 

“He’d say stuff like ‘Don’t waste your money … save and work hard,'” Misthos-Lopez said. “They were good lessons.”

On vacations and birthdays, Misthos was often behind a camera taking photos and videos. Luckily, many of the VHS cassettes that carried all those memories were converted to DVD, Misthos-Lopez said.

A fan of soccer, especially the Greek leagues, Misthos would record games if he couldn’t watch them live. As a child, he played in a local league with friends and he was looking forward to teaching his baby grandson, Sebastian, to play his favorite game when he died on April 2, 2020.

“He passed when my son was 3 months old,” Misthos-Lopez said. “So my son won’t really know his grandfather.”