Saugus sub shop owners hold fundraiser to honor late dad

SAUGUS – A Route 1 legend was remembered in Saugus Friday, as Santoro’s Sub Villa held a fundraiser for the Alzheimer’s Association in honor of late owner Robert Santoro Jr.”Bob’s Day” at Santoro’s saw customers donating money to the Alzheimer’s Association in the Longest Day campaign. Customers had a chance to win prizes like Red Sox and Six Flags tickets, and by mid-afternoon Friday, co-owner Richard Santoro had raised more than $1,700.”The Longest Day is promoting anyone with Alzheimer’s or their caretakers,” said Richard Santoro. “From sunrise to sunset, it’s nonstop activity. They get teams together with activities and you have to keep busy all the time.”Richard Santoro and his sister, Gail Eaton, were running the fundraiser Friday, which included proceeds from raffles and all food sales from Santoro’s Friday, to pay tribute to their father, Robert Santoro Jr., who founded Santoro’s with his father Robert Sr. in 1958. Robert Santoro Jr. died in April from complications of Alzheimer’s disease at 76.”We were one of the originals on Route 1 with the Hilltop and Kowloon,” said Richard Santoro. “My dad employed thousands of kids that grew up and still to this day come back and visit. We still continue to keep that running as well with a family business. That’s hard to find nowadays.”Richard Santoro said his father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s just two years before he died, which he said was made worse after a heart operation.”Usually it’s longer than that,” he said. “He had a heart operation which went well, but the anesthesia and everything and the medication sometimes brings it out. After he had the operation it was just downhill from there.”Robert Santoro Sr. and his son Robert Jr. opened the first sub shop on Route 1 in 1958 with Santoro’s Original Submarine Sandwiches. In 1960, Robert Jr. bought a larger lot on Route 1 and opened Santoro’s Sub Villa. In the 1970s, several franchise locations opened up around New England including in Melrose, Reading and Nashua, N.H.The third generation of Santoros came into the business in the 1980s when brothers Robert III and Richard Santoro started working in the sub shop making sandwiches and working the cash registers.In 1990, the Santoros sold their land to Walgreens and they moved across the street to their current location in 1991. Richard and Robert Santoro still run Santoro’s Sub Villa today with their sister Gail Eaton.While his dad retired to Florida in the 1990s, Richard Santoro said he would always come back to the restaurant when he was in town.”All the old customers would come in and say, ‘Hello,'” he said. “He always loved to come back.”As he took a break from the grill for a quick interview Friday, Richard Santoro said he learned some valuable lessons from his father, including treating employees like family.”Through the years as they grew up we’d get wedding invitations and christenings,” he said. “We all stay close together and give a lot of people a starting point in their lives. That’s what he taught us, and he was a big part of the community and always gave back.”The Bob’s Day fundraising page can be found here.Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].