GORHAM —  Rebuilding the Gorham House of Pizza, which was damaged during a fire last month, isn’t the only concern for owner Angelo Sotiropoulos.

About a week after an electrical fire destroyed the upper stories of his building at 2 State St. and water damage forced him to shutter the restaurant on the first floor, Sotriopoulos found out he had prostate cancer.

Recent visits with doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston were encouraging, he said. The doctors told him that “nothing is 100 percent,” but the cancer is in an early stage and is treatable, said Sotiropoulos, 62.

Before knowing that Sotiropoulos was sick, the Gorham community had already rallied around the beloved restaurant owner and planned a fundraiser for the Gorham House of Pizza.

The event is on June 2 from 2-10 p.m. in the field house on the University of Southern Maine’s Gorham campus.

Sotiropoulos, who has health insurance and is optimistic he will fully recover, said he wants the focus of the event to stay on raising money to pay his employees before the restaurant can be rebuilt.

“This fundraiser is for my workers,” he said.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.