Restaurateur struggles with loss of daughter, fiscal woes

The colorful mural of the Koolau mountains and tropical flowers painted across two walls at Chao Phya Thai Restaurant in Kaneohe is a cheery gift from one of owner Angoon "Mama Toy" Coppedge’s customers.

The mural is in stark contrast to the un-plumbable depths of sadness in Coppedge’s heart, as Saturday marks the second anniversary of the death of her only daughter, Atchara "Timmie" Somanee, from lupus.

"I lost my mother, my father, my husband and my younger brother, and I cry, but not like this," she said, through a stream of tears.

Somanee ran the business side of the restaurant. While she was alive all the bills were paid on time, but she was sick for three years leading up to her death at age 49.

Coppedge, 77, sold her jewelry and undertook other measures to pay off her daughter’s medical bills.

In the meantime the restaurant fell behind on its rent.

Due to diligent efforts by longtime loyal customer Mina Brinkopf and restaurant business consultant Guy C. Smith, Coppedge has been making her full lease payments in recent months. There still is a significant amount of back rent to clear by Aug. 31, or Coppedge will have no option but to leave Chao Phya Thai behind.

Brinkopf and Smith are working to boost customer traffic to the restaurant to generate enough revenue to pay off the debt.

"I never believed I would have to be like this," Coppedge said through continued tears. "I’m supposed to be successful, me and my daughter."

It was Somanee who encouraged Coppedge to buy the restaurant in 1996, following her husband’s death in 1982.

"My daughter said, ‘Mommy, don’t work (for someone else). … You can cook,’" like she did in hotels in Bangkok in her youth. "Then she said we should come to see the lady who wants to sell (the restaurant)," and Coppedge bought it, paying $130,000.

Between grieving for her daughter and her determination to continue on her own, she did not hire a business manager to take over her daughter’s responsibilities.

"To think of hiring somebody else to replace your only daughter is hard to swallow," Smith said. Efforts to boost restaurant traffic and revenue to fill the coffers is "a rallying cry" to help Coppedge.

Brinkopf added, "Guy and I are looking at options besides getting enough money for back rent," though that is the main goal. They hope to raise enough funds through increased customer traffic — whether through dine-in, takeout or private parties — to have enough left over to "revamp the business," she said.

Another option is to sell the restaurant, though time is short for such a transaction.

During her daughter’s illness, Coppedge did everything she could to keep the restaurant running. Her daily routine was to get to the restaurant early in the morning to do food preparations prior to 11 a.m. lunch service. After the restaurant closed at 9 p.m., she would go to the hospital to spend the night with her daughter, before getting up early to start the whole daily routine again.

These days she visits her daughter’s grave before she gets to the restaurant, in between lunch and dinner service, and again before she goes home at night.

"After she pass away, I have a hard life, a very, very hard life," Coppedge said.

Her customers have become her family, Brinkopf said.

"Customers love me," Coppedge said. "They say, ‘Mama, don’t quit, I can put you on a wheelchair, I’ll push you,’" she said. "I want to be with them."

Over the years Somanee’s husband, John Hole, became increasingly involved in the restaurant and concocted a coconut ice cream that went on to win awards.

Seeing people eat her food makes Coppedge happy. It is visible. She beams.

"I suffer every day, I’m so sad," she said. "But when customers come to the restaurant, I’m smiling."

"If I can find the money to pay (for) the restaurant, I want to work."

Reach Erika Engle at 529-4303, erika@staradvertiser.com or on Twitter as @erikaengle.