Rick Chase met Andrew Vathis 25 years ago while they were working at Albertsons on the South Hill.
Immediately, Chase said, he knew Vathis was a people-person because he would talk to everybody and treat them as a friend.
“To him, working at the store was about the people,” Chase said.
It’s that sense of friendship that drew more than 1,000 people to Ferris High School on Saturday for Vathis’ memorial. Vathis was struck by a car last month and died from his injuries.
Many groups attended the memorial, such as firefighters whom he visited regularly, his Hoopfest team, his Special Olympics team, his Albertsons’ coworkers and fellow fans of Spokane sports teams. Each had a story to tell about their friendship with Vathis, who was called an icon, an ambassador and an epitome of kindness.
Vathis was born in Athens, Greece, and had complications during his birth and a bone disorder that would leave him with an intellectual disability.