MAYFIELD HEIGHTS, Ohio — The owner of a McDonald’s franchise near Cleveland, Ohio, paid his employees for three months while his store was closed for renovations.

Tony Philiou, a longtime owner of the McDonald’s in Mayfield Heights, Ohio — a suburb about 20 miles from downtown Cleveland — told Breitbart News that he continued paying his employees while his store was closed for remodeling.

“I was up at 2:30 in the morning, trying to sleep, thinking, ‘I have to pay them,'” Philiou said. “So I calculated everything up — whatever they were earning — they didn’t lose a penny.”

“Without [my employees], where would I be?” he added. “I have to take care of those who take care of me.”

Philiou’s McDonald’s store closed on March 29 for remodeling and reopened for business on July 6:

The owner of a McDonald’s franchise near Cleveland, Ohio, paid his employees for three months while his store was closed for renovations (Alana Mastrangelo/Breitbart News).

The McDonald’s franchise owner — who immigrated to the United States from Greece in 1947, when he was just 15 years old — is also a Korean War veteran.

“I love this country,” Philiou said, adding that when the war started, he thought, “I have to do something for this country, too.” He continued, “So I volunteered. I went to the Army, and I went to Korea.”

After serving in the Korean War, Philiou got married and bought a house just across the street from where his McDonald’s now stands. He then got a second job working at the restaurant part time.

That was “60 years ago,” Philiou, now 90 years old, told Breitbart News. “I grew into it. I just kept moving up the ladder.”

Philiou explained that he went on to work his way up from part-time employee to full-time manager by 1966 to supervisor. “And then finally an opportunity came to me in 1977” to buy a store.

The owner of a McDonald’s franchise near Cleveland, Ohio, paid his employees for three months while his store was closed for renovations. This was his first sign (Alana Mastrangelo/Breitbart News).

“I came from ground up to where I am today,” he said.

And Philiou is not the only one who has done so.

“Three other people that I hired here became McDonald’s franchise owners,” said Philiou, who added that he believes in helping others.

“The other thing I believe in helping is the schools,” he said. “I believe that a good school district equals a good, strong community.”

In 2019, Philiou was commended for supporting his community and school system by hiring employees who have been part of the area’s CEVEC [Cuyahoga East Vocational Education Consortium] program, based in Mayfield Heights, Cleveland.com reported.

The CEVEC program, which collaborates with more than 100 business partners, offers high school students who are facing challenges the opportunity to build their resumes while gaining real-life experience working for a local business and deciding which field might best fit their own particular interests and strengths.

Philiou, who strongly believes in the program, has also donated $20,000 to CEVEC operations.

“We have a good school district here in Mayfield,” Philiou told Breitbart News.

You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.