BANGOR – George Brountas, a former Bangor mayor and businessman, died Tuesday at the age of 79 after a battle with cancer.

One of three Brountas brothers to head the City Council during the 1960s and 1970s, George Brountas was remembered by those who knew him best as a hard worker with a call to public service.

“He was always interested in what was best for the city as a whole,” said Don Soucy, a longtime friend who served with Brountas on the council for several years.

“That runs in his family,” added Soucy, 75, who fondly called middle-brother George the “Golden Greek.”

George Brountas served two terms on the City Council and was chosen as mayor in 1975.

Aside from politics, George and the entire Brountas family has had a long history in Bangor, where as children George and his younger brother, Arthur Brountas, began careers in business selling newspapers on downtown sidewalks.

Years later, after graduating from the University of Maine, George again partnered with his brother in the family businesses, which included a restaurant and the Greyhound bus station. They worked together for 40 years until George left Bangor for Portland to run the Greyhound terminal there for 10 years.

Arthur Brountas, in a telephone interview Friday, remembered his brother as a caring person and a hard worker.

“We had our hands full, and they were long hours every day,” said Arthur Brountas, 78. “You kept your nose to the grindstone because you had to in order to provide for your family, and George certainly did that.”

In addition to the recognition he gained through his work on the City Council and the business community, George Brountas drew some attention in 1967 when he was shot in the face when he interrupted a robbery at Fairmount Market on Hammond Street.

His survival was a feat his brother attributed to George’s good fortune.

“An angel must have been with him,” Arthur Brountas said. “He was a fortunate man in many ways.”

Besides Arthur, George Brountas is survived by his older brothers Nicholas Brountas of Bangor and Paul Brountas of Weston, Mass., and his sister, Helen Nicholas of Roslindale, Mass. He also leaves four children.