Jim Calombaris, father of Greek Cypriot Australian restaurateur George Calombaris has passed with the family mourning the loss of a “warrior” who battled bowel cancer twice in his life.

Wife Mary shared the news to friends on Facebook with a brief heartwarming note about the “saddest day” of her life:

“The love of my life today passing away on our wedding anniversary of 46 years, and a blessed day celebrating St Stylianos day, RIP my love,” Ms Calombaris wrote on Sunday.

The former Master Chef judge, who now runs The Hellenic House Project in Highett, had previously opened up about his father’s enduring battle with cancer.

George Calombaris was only six when his dad was first diagnosed with the disease.

“At six you’re a bit oblivious to it all,” he had stated.

“It (only) dawned on me with that second diagnosis. It wasn’t so much the operation and seeing Dad go through that, it was the chemotherapy that really struck a chord with me, going with him and sitting beside him… and seeing him deteriorate… It’s a very unpleasant thing.

“Dad just fought through it, ‘I’m not going anywhere’.

In a touching tribute on his passing, George Calombaris called his father “a super hero” and thanked him for “inspiring your children, grandchildren and me to never give up.”

“Today I say goodbye to my super hero,” Calombaris posted on Instagram.

“A man that taught me to never give up. To be a lion, a warrior. Never to complain. To have tenacity. He taught me to love this gift of life.

“P.s. Thank you to the angels that are the doctors and nurses at the royal Melbourne hospital. You are elite. Gc xxxxx.”

At the age of 16, George Calombaris saw his father battling the disease for a second time.

“I remember him leaving the house when Mum was taking him in to the operation and I was in tears. I remember looking at him saying ‘Please don’t leave us because we need you’. And he said ‘I’m not going anywhere, I’ll be back soon’. As a 16-year-old boy — you need your Dad. That was tough to see him go through that.

“I think he’s an absolute legend.”