MOSES LAKE - Perkins will serve its last customer today.

Owners Mira and Eddie Huffman recently announced they would be closing the doors to their Moses Lake establishment on Dec. 24. The pair is retiring after more than 40 years of being in the business.

Eddie Huffman said the decision to close the restaurant wasn't an easy one.

"It's very sad," he said. "It's kind of an icon in Moses Lake."

Huffman said he and his wife had already been thinking about retiring and closing the business for awhile now. However, they weren't planning on putting that idea into motion until next year, he said.

Huffman said the couple eventually decided they wanted to have things wrapped up before the end of the year for accounting purposes.

"We put notice up Saturday and it's been a crying organization here since then," he said. "We're all a family here, and everyone's just really sad."

Huffman said he wished he could keep the restaurant open. He enjoyed spending time at the restaurant and will miss his almost daily interactions with customers, he said.

"You meet new people here all the time," said Huffman. "But I'm 79 years old and if I'm going to retire, now is the time."

Huffman said Helen and Leo Theis initially opened the restaurant in 1960. But back then it was known as Smitty's Pancake House, he said.

"Mira started as a server in 1968, and then I came in 1969," he said. "They (Helen and Leo) put us both as management trainees with the idea of selling to us in the future."

The restaurant eventually became Perkins somewhere around 1976, Huffman said. Looking back, Huffman said he and his wife have had a good run over the past couple of decades.

He said they're looking forward to their retirement, which they will spend in the area.

"We're going to stay in Moses Lake, we're not going to leave because our families are here," he said.

Huffman said the restaurant building, and the lot it's on, are currently for sale. Perkins is open until 3 p.m. today.