Anton's Coffee Shop, a Springfield landmark that opened on April Fools' Day 1974, will close its doors forever after business on Sunday, March 1.

Its longtime owner Anton Tasich died Jan. 17 following a re-occurrence of lung cancer in the summer.

An auction of items inside the small restaurant will be Friday, March 13, according to his widow, Roberta Tasich. The couple was married 49 years.

"I'm sorry to do it, but I have no other choice," she said Feb. 20 when contacted at home.

The coffee shop has been at 937 S. Glenstone Ave. since its opening.

In the fall, Anton was ill and he realized he would not return to the coffee shop.

For many years, he would be at the restaurant two to three days a week. He would tell stories —some of them a tad off-color, depending on the audience — and greet customers with zeal.

"Our lease was up in March," Roberta said, "and he knew he was not coming back."

Roberta still owns the building, but the ground it is on is owned by C. Arch Bay, a Springfield real estate company.

"It was more his decision than my decision," she said. "He wanted to make it easier on me."

It would have been nice to sell the building, she said, but the structure was old and in need of substantial repair.

Anton had survived prostate cancer and lung cancer since the early 2000s, and he said part of the reason for his remission was his positive outlook on life.

Roberta said a cancerous spot was found on his lung in July, and CyberKnife System treatment was unsuccessful.

The CyberKnife System is a radiation therapy device manufactured by Accuray Incorporated. It's used to deliver radiosurgery for treatment of tumors.

Roberta and her husband firmly believe his lung cancer battles were the result of his exposure to secondhand smoke during his many years in the restaurant business.

She says Anton never smoked, not once.

"I would ask him, 'You mean you never once sneaked a cigarette while you were a teenager?' And he would say he never had the desire to do that."

Anton was a leading advocate for a sweeping indoor smoking ban passed by Springfield voters in 2011. Anton's was the second Springfield restaurant to go smoke-free, before the ordinance ever passed, his obituary said.