Benjamin Millar
Tributes are pouring in for Footscray icon Nick Tsiligiris, who passed away on Thursday, aged 86.
Mr Tsiligiris was a cherished member of the community and a familiar face as the proprietor of the Olympic Doughnuts van at Footscray Station for almost 40 years.
Daughter Gina Hasapis said her father was a wonderful man and a great father, grandfather brother, uncle, godfather, friend and confidante.
“He made a lasting impression on all who knew and met him,” she said in a statement.
“The world is certainly sadder and poorer without him in it. His passing is already being felt and mourned by those who knew and loved him.
“But his legacy and memories of his smile, cheekiness and doughnuts will live on in all of us.”
The Footscray icon’s hot jam doughnuts were long regarded as among Australia’s best, tempting locals and visitors alike at Footscray railway station from humble beginnings in 1979 until the day he retired in 2017.
His doughnuts, jam-dispensing dolphin and colourful life were immortalised in 2015 when filmmakers Ian Tran and Rachel Morssink created the short film Olympic Nick: A Donutumentary, awarded ‘best film’ at Melbourne’s 23rd Greek Film Festival.
Online tributes to Nick have remembered a “wonderful man” who brought joy to people’s lives and whose memory will always be treasured.
