Ann Sather, 90, the founder and former owner of the Belmont Avenue restaurant that bears her name, bought The Swedish Diner in 1945 with $4,000 in savings from working 21 years at a meat-packing plant. She transformed it into one of the landmark ethnic eateries in the city, even though she had not a drop of Swedish blood in her veins.
A resident since 1995 of Grand Rapids, Mich., she died Wednesday in her sister’s residence in that city.
The Ann Sather Restaurant, famous for its cinnamon rolls, has featured a Swedish menu and homestyle cooking and breads as well as American dishes since she took it over.
Last year in a Tribune interview, she recalled how she kept the Swedish items on the menu after buying the restaurant, then a few doors away from its present location at 929 W. Belmont Ave.
“There were seven other restaurants on the block then, all Scandinavian,” she recalled. “I wasn’t sure at first if they’d accept me since I was a Norwegian, but they did.”
Ironically, today hers is one of the most prominent names associated with the Swedish community in Chicago.
“I always strived for a friendly atmosphere,” she said of her years in the restaurant. “It’s been like entertaining.”
She retired in 1981 after selling Ann Sather’s to a hand-picked successor, Tom Tunney.
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Survivors include her sister, Esther Koster.
A memorial service will be held at 2:30 p.m. Sunday in the Addison Street Community Church, 2132 W. Addison St.