Halifax coffee shop holds memorial for 3 longtime patrons

For a decade or so, they were a fixture on Halifax's busy Gottingen Street: three men seated every morning outside the same café, discussing the comings and goings over cigarettes, hot coffee and tea.

The daily tradition changed in 2020 when Leroy Loppie died at the age of 76. This past July, Clyde Tanner died, also at 76. Dave Demone died earlier this month at 71, leaving three empty seats by the wooden fence at Alteregos Cafe, which honoured the trio Friday in a celebration of life.

The men were more than just longtime regulars; they were a "really special part of the fabric of Gottingen Street," said Alteregos' owner Michelle Strum.

She said Tanner and Loppie — known by many in Halifax as Mr. Loppie — had been coming to the café since it opened 23 years ago. Before that, the pair would frequent the restaurant that existed at the same site.

"When I was looking at purchasing the building, I could remember them sitting in there then," Strum told CBC's Information Morning Halifax on Friday.

When Demone moved in across the street about a decade ago, he too became a daily patron at Alteregos.

On Friday, a small gold plaque was affixed to the wooden fence outside the café where the trio used to gather. "In loving memory of our friends," it reads.

About two dozen people showed up for coffee, tea and sandwiches and shared stories of the three men.

"It's lovely to see the plaque where Puppy would come and have his tea. It's really nice," said Loppie's daughter, Lillian Loppie-Benjamin.

Strum said Barb Adams, Demone's sister, connected with the café when her brother was in the hospital. Demone wanted visits from past and current staff.

"So we spent a lot of time with him this week," said Strum.

Strum said Demone left some money behind to the café to go toward food for the celebration of life. 

Adams said Friday she could feel how much people genuinely cared about her brother.

"Obviously I see all the love that's here in this community that I would say helped save his life ... this community saved his life, the love that he got here, that he gave and it was returned," Adams said.

Strum said Tanner had been in and out of hospital over the last six months or staying at home due to illness, which didn't go unnoticed by her concerned employees.

"My staff are definitely the first people to notice the minute they don't see one of these gentlemen. And, you know, we'll be calling and checking in and going down to Clyde's place in [Sunrise Manor] to make sure that he was OK."

Strum, who is originally from Mahone Bay, N.S., said the Gottingen Street area has an almost rural feel in the way people connect with one another.

Loppie, Tanner and Demone were a big part of that.

"For me, whenever I go on holiday and come back and pull up out front, it's the No. 1 thing to see them, you know? It's like I'm home," she said.

"For people who know them, just a quick wave ... to any of those guys, it's such a big part of the morning."