Peter C. Bandy, a Philadelphia native who flew 35 credited combat missions as a B-17 waist gunner during World War II and remained active in the region’s Greek Orthodox and veterans communities, passed away on Friday, August 14, 2026. He was 102.
Bandy was born in West Philadelphia on February 19, 1924, the youngest son of Constantine A. Bandy and Paraskeve Drobonik Bandy. His parents immigrated from Berat, Albania, around the turn of the 20th century and settled in Philadelphia’s Greektown. As a boy, he worked at his father’s Sugar Bowl at 8th and Race streets, a detail he later recalled in a Cosmos Philly interview about his wartime service.
Bandy graduated from Overbrook High School and was drafted at 18. He entered the U.S. Army Air Forces and served with the 359th Bomb Squadron, 303rd Bomb Group, 8th Air Force, based at Molesworth, England. As a staff sergeant and waist gunner, he completed 35 credited combat missions in the European Theater before his combat tour ended in October 1944.
303rd Bomb Group records document Bandy on five credited missions aboard the B-17 Thunderbird in August 1944, as well as an October 5 flight that was aborted after the aircraft developed engine trouble.
In his Cosmos Philly interview, Bandy remembered how exposed the crews were in the air.
“The sky is unmerciful; I don’t know how they missed us,” he said.
According to his family obituary, Bandy’s military decorations included the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with three Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters. He was honorably discharged on October 28, 1945.
While in the service, Bandy met Helen Klotsas of Ogden, Utah, at a Greek-sponsored USO dance. They married on August 12, 1945, and raised four children. Their marriage lasted 68 years, until Helen passed away in 2013.
After the war, Bandy opened the Polar Bear, a luncheonette in Millville, New Jersey. He later returned to Philadelphia and purchased a beauty salon on Broad Street that Helen, a licensed cosmetologist, operated. While working for Yellow Cab, Bandy earned his own cosmetology license and worked in the field for about four decades.
The couple later operated a salon on Wayne Avenue in Germantown. Bandy left for Southern California in 1957 to pursue a business venture with his brother-in-law but returned to Philadelphia the following year to care for his aging parents. He subsequently purchased a salon on Chelton Avenue in Germantown, where he and Helen employed several hairstylists. After leaving salon ownership, he continued providing cosmetology services at funeral homes and nursing homes and for private clients until 1990.
Bandy served on the Parish Council of Annunciation-Evangelismos Greek Orthodox Church in Elkins Park and was a Life member of Eleftheria VFW Post 6633. In 2024, Post Commander George Roebas and Quartermaster Curtis Cummings visited Bandy and his son Harry to mark his 100th birthday.
He was predeceased by his wife, Helen; his parents; his brothers, the Rev. Anastasius C. Bandy and Alexander Bandy; and his sisters-in-law, Anastasia Kertiles Bandy and Jean Leitle Bandy.
Bandy is survived by his daughter, Betty Dovas; sons Constantine Peter, Harry, and Theodore; 11 grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; his brother-in-law, George Klotsas; and numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins.
A visitation will be held Friday, August 21, from 10 to 11 a.m. at Annunciation-Evangelismos Greek Orthodox Church, 7921 Old York Road in Elkins Park. The funeral service will begin at 11 a.m., followed by interment at Fernwood Cemetery, 6501 Baltimore Avenue in Lansdowne.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial donations be made to Annunciation-Evangelismos Greek Orthodox Church or to a veterans organization of the donor’s choice.