Biography

Andrew Harry Jarvis(born Andrew Harry Giavis) was born in Magouliana

Magouliana

Magouliana is a settlement and an ancient city in the municipal unit of Vytina, Arcadia, Greece. As of 2001, it had a population of 238 for the village and 256 for the municipal district. It sits at 1,365 m above sea level.-Settlements:...

, Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

, on April 7, 1890 and immigrated to the United States in the early 1900s. He arrived in New York and then went to Lowell, Massachusetts

Lowell, Massachusetts

Lowell is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA. According to the 2010 census, the city's population was 106,519. It is the fourth largest city in the state. Lowell and Cambridge are the county seats of Middlesex County...

 where he stayed with distant family while working in a mill to learn English at the pay of $3.50 a week. It is family lore that every day for lunch he would have apple pie because it was all he could say in English. Over the next ten years, he would become fluent in English and receive a good American education through night school. He then opened his first restaurant, the Jarvis Cafeteria, in 1913 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire in the United States. It is the largest city but only the fourth-largest community in the county, with a population of 21,233 at the 2010 census...

. Over the next few decades, he opened a handful of other restaurants and candy/ice cream stores in Portsmouth, Lawrence, Massachusetts

Lawrence, Massachusetts

Lawrence is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States on the Merrimack River. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a total population of 76,377. Surrounding communities include Methuen to the north, Andover to the southwest, and North Andover to the southeast. It and Salem are...

, and Brunswick, Maine

Brunswick, Maine

Brunswick is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The population was 20,278 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Portland-South Portland-Biddeford metropolitan area. Brunswick is home to Bowdoin College, the Bowdoin College Museum of Art, the Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum, , and the...

.

He was a Republican in politics and served as mayor of Portsmouth from 1958–1959 and as a member of the Executive Council of New Hampshire

Executive Council of New Hampshire

The Executive Council of the State of New Hampshire is the executive body of the U.S. state of New Hampshire. The Executive Council advises the Governor on all matters and provides a check on the governor's power. New Hampshire is one of the few states that has an Executive Council, and is the...

 from 1961-1963. He was encouraged to run for Governor

Governor of New Hampshire

The Governor of the State of New Hampshire is the supreme executive magistrate of the U.S. state of New Hampshire.The governor is elected at the biennial state general election in November of even-numbered years. New Hampshire is one of only two states, along with bordering Vermont, to hold...

 but was self-conscience about his heavy Greek accent and decided not to. He was a delegate at the Republican National Convention in 1956. He met every Republican president from the early 1920s until his death, but was close to Dwight D. Eisenhower

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...

, Richard Nixon

Richard Nixon

Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...

, Gerald Ford

Gerald Ford

Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...

, and George H. W. Bush

George H. W. Bush

George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...

. In the 1970s his nephews took over his restaurant in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and Andrew Jarvis retired. He was a member of many organizations, including Rotary International

Rotary International

Rotary International is an organization of service clubs known as Rotary Clubs located all over the world. The stated purpose of the organization is to bring together business and professional leaders to provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help...

 and his local Masonic Lodge

Masonic Lodge

This article is about the Masonic term for a membership group. For buildings named Masonic Lodge, see Masonic Lodge A Masonic Lodge, often termed a Private Lodge or Constituent Lodge, is the basic organisation of Freemasonry...

. Every year in Portsmouth, the Rotary holds the Andrew and Grace Jarvis Memorial Road Race, in honor of him and his wife. Mr. Jarvis was a supporter of many humanitarian efforts. Mr. Jarvis is credited for helping to start the Strawberry Bank Historical Society

Strawbery Banke

Strawbery Banke is an outdoor history museum located in the South End historic district of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It is the oldest neighborhood in New Hampshire to be settled by Europeans, and the earliest neighborhood remaining in the present-day city of Portsmouth...

 which helped transform a seedy area of downtown Portsmouth back into a beautiful historic New England town by renovating the 18th century historic homes. He also helped bring the Pease Air Force Base to Portsmouth. Andrew Jarvis died in early 1990 one month before his 100th birthday.The Portsmouth Rotary club had planned a 100th birthday party for him. They held a celebration in his honor where his daughter gave a speech talking about his life and service to Portsmouth. Andrerw Jarvis founded the Friends of the Blind of Greece in America which set up a school and museum for the blind in Greece paid for by donations by Greek-Americans. He was the president until his death in 1990 at which time his son-in-law took over until 2007.
|thumb|Jarvis Restaurant in Portsmouth,NH]]
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Establishments formerly owned by Andrew Jarvis

• Rockingham Hotel
• Jarvis Cafeteria
• Jarvis Restaurant
• Apollo Lunch Company
• Jarvis Tea Room
• The Market Square Pub

Titles

• President of Portsmouth Rotary Club
• St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church Parish Council President
• Thirty - Second degree ancient Scottish Rite (Masonic Lodge)
• President Portsmouth Red Cross
• Member of National Restaurant Association
• Food Advisor Navy/Army of New Hampshire
• NH campaign head of Eisenhower, Nixon, Goldwater, Ford, Reagan, and Bush
• Founder Friends of the Blind of Greece in America

Honors

• Andrew Jarvis Drive in Portsmouth
• Jarvis Center Function Hall
• Andrew and Grace Jarvis Memorial 5K
• Andrew Jarvis School for the Blind in Greece