George Panos (a.k.a. Panagiotopoulos)- Biography November 3, 1930 – August 29, 2013 George was born in small village of Rizes (Arkadia) in Greece on November 3rd 1930 to Nickolaos and Panagiota Panagiotopoulos. He was the second of five children, Marina, Stavros, Panagioti, and Elizabeth. From a very early age he worked very hard on the family farm like most kids from that era, and when possible hunted for birds and rabbits. He unfortunately lost his mother during the Second World War at the tender age of 10, and his dad 21 years ago one day apart from his own death. George went to the army at the age of 19 for two years, and was able to see some of the different areas of Greece as a result of his different postings. He met his lovely wife Angeliki when he was 27 years of age, and they were married in 1958, after less than a month of being engaged. A year after they were blessed with their first son Nicolaos (in 1959), and shortly thereafter decided to immigrate by boat to Halifax Canada in 1962 for a better life, away from the farm. They couldn’t speak a word of English, and were as sick as you can get on a month long boat trip… so sick on that trip, that their son Nick had to be looked after by a fellow from a nearby village that was on the same ship. They stumbled off the boat into Halifax, and immediately took a 5 day long train ride to Calgary, where dad worked hard at a hotel, and a restaurant. Soon after, there second son, Panagioti arrived in 1963. Not being able to weather the long cold harsh winters, he packed up the family and moved further West to Vancouver in 1966. Shortly after their son Konstantinos was born in 1969. Once here, George worked hard as a millworker until retirement at the same finishing mill, Tru-Fit in Burnaby. He was a great family man, sincere and honest, and along with his spouse did the best to preserve the Greek language and Greek Orthodox faith within the family. He loved taking the family out right after work and on weekends to picnics, and smelt fishing. He also enjoyed gardening with his wife, and helped each of his sons out with car repairs. The church was his other love, attending Church every Sunday, and with his guidance all his boys served as altar boys for many years. George volunteered his time at St. George with Father Demitrios Partsafas, and also served as a member of the first board of directors for the Greek Community of East Vancouver (Saint Nicolaos and Saint Demetrios Church). He was the Neocoro for this church we are in today until 2008… helping out Father’s Dorotheos Tryphonopoulos, Panagiotis Pavlakos, and Evangelos Aravatinos. At the end of his life George cherished every moment with family, and especially the grand children, they would make him smile with joy, even when he was in pain...especially when they would say we love you Pappou! Today George will be sadly missed by his wife, son’s and their wives, and a total of 7 grandchildren, along with his beloved , sister, and brother, sister in laws, and brother in laws, nephews, nieces, cousins, and many friends. May his memory always be eternal, and let’s try to remember the good that this man brought into all of our lives. Amen.
Posted on: Sat, 07 Sep 2013 06:54:37 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015