Tom Pappas: World War I Veteran and Confectionary Store Owner

The following is from a work-in-progress about the history of Fullerton. You can support my ongoing research and writing on Patreon.

“If the details of the life of Tom Pappas, proprietor of the Chateau Thierry cafe and confectionery, at 116 N. Spadra Street [now Harbor Blvd.], Fullerton, were written, it would make as interesting reading as a tale of fiction,” biographer Samuel Armor wrote in 1921, “A hero of the famous battle of Chateau Thierry in the late World War, he  named his place of business at Fullerton in honor of that memorable battlefield.”

Tom Pappas was born in 1884 in Athens, Greece. When he was only eight years old, he began selling papers on the streets. 

In 1906, when he was 22 years old, he immigrated to the United  States and worked as a news vender on the streets of Chicago. Later, he and his brother William opened three confectionery stores.  

In 1913, Tom sold his share in the confectionary business and moved to Whittier, California where he opened a confectionery store.

In 1916 he moved to Fullerton and bought out a cigar store, which he operated until the US entered World War I, at which time he sold his business and enlisted in the 144th Field Artillery (the Grizzly Regiment). 

However, when he arrived at Camp Kearny, he was discharged because he was not an American citizen. Determined to fight, he returned to Orange County and got his citizen’s papers, after which he rejoined his regiment at Camp Kearny.  

He was sent overseas to France, where he joined the 13th Field Artillery, Fourth Division, and fought on four different battle fronts, serving as a gunner. He fought at St. Mihiel, Lorraine, Chateau Thierry, and the Argonne.  

“He was gassed at Chateau Thierry, and being rescued from the field he was in the field hospital three weeks and then rejoined his regiment, being in active service until the armistice, when he was again taken ill from the former effects of being gassed and was compelled to remain in the hospital for six months,” Armor writes. 

After the war, he returned to Fullerton and purchased a confectionery store, which he named the Chateau Thierry cafe and confectionery. It became a popular store downtown. 

He also invested in several local oil companies.

Like many businessmen of his day, Pappas was a member of the Fullerton Board of Trade. He was a member of the Anaheim Elks Lodge, and a charter member of the American Legion Post 142, which is still active today, organizing the popular Memorial Day event.

Source:

History of Orange County, California: with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its earliest growth and development from the early days to the present by Samuel Armor. Los Angeles Historic Record Co, 1921.