US Navy veteran visits Florida cafe every day for breakfast, helps with tasks as staff plans birthday bash
A U.S. Navy veteran has touched thousands of hearts after a local café posted news of his loyalty to the restaurant.
Mr. Lee, as he is known, is a veteran who lives in Pensacola, Florida, and visits the Scenic 90 Cafe every morning for breakfast.
Lee, who served in the U.S. Navy for over 30 years, walks into the west Florida diner every single morning looking for a good meal and a good chat.
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Server Kelli Gomez has been waiting on Lee for at least a year. She told Fox News Digital that Lee loves to sit at the counter and share stories with the staff.
"He just comes in, in the morning time, and eats breakfast … He loves to sit there and tell us about his stories and his memories with his wife and kids," she said.
Every morning, Lee orders a house special that includes an over-easy egg, cheese grits, a biscuit and a sausage patty — and he sometimes comes back for lunch.
She said his presence — he's typically at the first seat at the café counter — is consistent and something staff members look forward to every day.
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"It’s pretty special to me to know that this is part of [veterans'] everyday lifestyle," she said.
"It’s humbling to know that this is where they want to be."
The café posted a photo of Lee on Facebook, which sparked the chatter around Lee and his helpfulness.
The photo shows him separating coffee filters, which is something Gomez said he started doing one day after watching staffers try to do themselves.
"He loves watching us separate filters for the coffee machine [and] watching us grind the coffee — and one day he just started helping with this," she said.
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Gomez said Lee is now tasked often with separating coffee filters.
Lee, who is widowed and just months away from his 90th birthday, still drives daily to and from the café, according to his daughter Tracy Rutland, who spoke with Fox News Digital about the online attention her father has received lately.
"He’s got the genes. His parents lived to 96 and 98, and his grandfather lived to 101," she said.
Rutland said she shared some of the positive comments from the café’s Facebook post with him, and he was "very surprised."
"He said, ‘They’re calling me a hero and there’s no way I’m a hero,’" she recalled.
Rutland said Lee chooses to help café staffers because "that’s just how he was raised" — noting he’s always been one to lend a helping hand.
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The daughter said she remembers from her growing-up years that Lee was always the first to help if he heard of a need.
Scenic 90 Cafe owner and chef Gus Silivos told Fox News Digital that his café will celebrate 25 years of business this year — a concept that was built as an old-style diner style for a reason.
"The people that come in and sit there primarily are either single people or widowers who come and really socialize with our staff," he said.
Silivos said it’s an excuse for members of the veteran and retirement community to get out of the house and connect with younger people working at the café.
"They [the senior customers] love to just connect with [the staffers] and share stories," he continued.
Lee will turn 90 years old in March 2024 — and even before all the social media attention, Arianne Pearce, marketing and PR director of the café, told Fox News Digital that staffers have been planning on celebrating Lee.
"The servers were already planning on decorating his chair and getting him balloons," she said.
Now, the café is asking for birthday cards to be sent to the café to honor the life and legacy of Lee.
Those interested can send a celebratory card to the Scenic 90 Cafe at 701 Scenic Highway, Pensacola, Florida, 32503.
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