Spero Saunders
Section 1, Lot 1263
Prospect Cemetery
Following a brief illness Spero Saunders died at his winter home in Miami, Florida on January 15, 1990. He was 87 years old at the time. Born in Zhelevo in north-west Greece in 1903, Saunders considered himself a Macedonian, and became a “good Canadian.” A tile maker by trade, in 1931 he immigrated to Canada, sending for his wife and three children seven years later. In 1940 he opened Saunders Grill on Yonge Street just south of Gerrard Street. It burned down in 1947 and was rebuilt as the Bermuda Tavern. The pride of Spero Saunders’ life was his contribution to the building of St. Clement of Ohrid Macedonian Orthodox Church in 1962. It was the first Macedonian church in Canada and he served as its first president. He sold his tavern in the early 1960s and retired, throwing himself, instead, into community projects such as the building of Zhelevo Hall community centre on Weston Road. He was also a supporter of the Orange Lodge Hall and the Yonge Street Mission. Mr. Saunders left behind two sons and a daughter, ten grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren. His daughter, Sally, was married to Steve Stavro, former owner of Knob Hill Farms and the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey club.