GRAND HAVEN, Mich. — A popular Grand Haven restaurant unexpectedly lost a manager and family member last week.
Anthony Thayer, a long time employee at Butch's Beach Burritos in Grand Haven, died unexpectedly last week after suffering a seizure at the age of 35.
His death comes nearly a year after another loss in the Butch's family. The restaurant's founder, Jim, was Anthony's grandfather and died last May.
Butch's Beach Burritos has been open for 35 years.
"Anthony worked with us for 22 of those years," says his uncle, Steve Thayer.
Anthony was one of many family members to work at Butch's through the years.
"Our business is a family business," says Steve.
When Jim passed last year, Anthony was next in line to lead the restaurant. Now, Anthony's loss has left another hole in their hearts and the workforce.
"We're gonna find out that he did a lot more than what we realized, just like we did with my dad," says Steve.
Steve says Anthony was always the one you could count on to get the big jobs done.
"The things that keep the restaurant running on a daily basis," he says.
And losing him will be a challenge to overcome as the restaurant's busy summer season looms ahead.
"We're going to keep the stores open, we're going to keep them running," says Steve. "We just need to kind of adjust what our plan was prior to last week."
But he believes pushing on ahead is exactly what Anthony would want.
"I think staying busy for us, in doing something that they loved also, is going to be very helpful in getting through some difficult times for us," says Steve.
Butch's in Spring Lake was closed Monday for Anthony's memorial services, and will be closed Tuesday as well.
The Grand Haven location is set to open for the summer on May 19.
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