Bellmore business leader Katina “Tina” Dupuis dies at 47

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Katina “Tina” Andreotis Dupuis, a Bellmore business owner and active member of the Chamber of Commerce of the Bellmores, died Nov 18. She was 47.

The cause was diverticulitis, an inflammation of the digestive system.

“She was loved by millions,” said Billy Polara, Tina’s boyfriend, as he tried to articulate what she meant to him before stammering, “This is tearing me up right now.”


Highly active in the Bellmore Chamber, Dupuis would every year light the tree at the group’s annual holiday event in Bellmore Village, and this year Polara lit it in commemoration. After, her salon on Grand Avenue, Salon T, was open to anyone who wanted to share a memory with friends. Outside was a wreath she put out every year and message that her friends painted on the window reading, “We love and miss you Tina.”

Her father, P. Andreotis, died of brain disease in October 2010. This led her to contribute to the Guardian Brain Foundation in Bellmore, which honored her as a “Golden Guardian” for 2016.

Dupuis raised funds for the foundation at her annual event, “Ride for a Cure,” which she has been running for the past eight years. Participants rode motorcycles down Bedford Avenue in Bellmore and donations were collected through raffle tickets and refreshments. Proceeds from these events helped provide support services to patients of the Guardian Brain Foundation.

Dupuis’s mother, Despina Andreotis, has suffered from diverticulitis most of her life and fell ill from it last November. Since then Dupuis has stayed home to take care of her until she was diagnosed with the same disease this past July. Andreotis currently resides in Wantagh.

Dupuis loved being a hairdresser, according to her friend, Jackie Meglio, and opened her business in 2002. Before that, Dupuis had worked at the Lemon Tree hair salon in Bellmore. There she met Meglio, who worked for the New York State Police Department at the time. After retiring in 2013, Meglio started working at Salon T and eventually became Dupuis’s assistant. “We’ve been inseparable— like twins— ever since,” Meglio said. “I was with her until the very end.” She shook her head and sighed as she stood in Dupuis’ Salon and reminisced about their friendship.

In addition to Salon T, Dupuis had another business. Since 2013, she had operated the Bellmore Bean Café across the street from her salon and sold it last July.

Meglio said Dupuis was always looking for ways to help the people around her and give back to her community. This time of year was her favorite because of the generosity that it fosters in people. “She thought no one should be alone for the holidays,” Meglio said. Lewis Siegel, another friend of Dupuis, was painting the memorial message on the salon window when he heard Meglio speaking. He told the Herald, “I spent one Thanksgiving there after I separated and I had nowhere to go.”

Siegel set up a fundraising page to help Dupuis raise money for her medical expenses when she was ill. He used the website, Gofundme, and titled his campaign the “Tina Tina Recovery Fund.” He is still operating the site and plans to use the remaining funds to cover outstanding medical bills and keep her salon running.

According to Siegel, whenever Dupuis heard about a fundraiser or charity event in her community, she would contribute and encourage her friends to do so as well. “She’d really bust our horns,” he said, noting that her actions inspired him to create a fundraiser to help her.

Memorial services for Dupuis were held on Nov. 21 at Charles Schmidt Funeral Home in Seaford and Nov. 22 at Saint Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church in Merrick. She was buried at Cedar Hill Cemetery in Port Jefferson.

The version of this story that appeared in the Dec. 8 edition of the Bellmore Herald incorrectly stated that Dupuis lived in Bellmore, that Meglio worked for the Nassau County Police Department, and that Dupuis sold her business, the Bellmore Bean Café, after her diagnosis when, in fact, she sold it beforehand, according to Meglio. The Herald apologizes for the errors.