'A heart of gold': Vigil held for Winnipeg restaurant owner killed in assault

A vigil was held on Sunday to remember Kyriakos Vogiatzakis.

Community members came together on Sunday night to mourn the loss of a Winnipeg restaurant owner who was killed in an assault last week.

Kyriakos Vogiatzakis, the 51-year-old owner of Cork and Flame, died on Jan. 24 after an assault outside his business.

On Sunday, family and friends gathered outside Cork and Flame to honour the business owner, who is being remembered as a caring person who was always willing to help others.

“We lost a brother, a son and you lost a friend,” said Mike Vogiatzakis, Kyriakos’ brother, at the vigil.

“You lost a community leader, a person who cared about St. James, a person who cared about people. My brother would give the shirt off his back to help anyone.”

Mike said that his brother deserved to live out his dreams, but instead, the family is left mourning a man who could have done so much for the city.

“Kyriakos had a heart of gold and he would give and give and keep on giving,” he said.

“Kyriakos didn’t care about big houses or big cars or money. Even when he had nothing, he would give everything in his pocket just to help and to show love that our mom so greatly taught us.”

CTV News Winnipeg previously reported that the Winnipeg Police Service has charged Curtis Ross Dalebozik with manslaughter and uttering threats. The charges have not been proven in court.