After a long battle with cancer, Antonios Elias, 88, of Roslindale, Mass., passed away quietly on Nov. 15, 2023, at his home in Roslindale. He was predeceased in 2000 by his wife, Irene Elias
Antonios was born in Orma, a village in the Pella regional unit of Macedonia, Greece in 1935 to Petros and Vasiliki Demos. He most remembered how hard his mother worked to care for her children and that his father was such a skilled craftsman that he could fix just about anything. Neighbors would bring him their guns, watches, and musical instruments for his father to repair. His father also built Greek gaida’s (bagpipes). Family and friends would frequently come to his father’s house to dance the night away.
Unfortunately, due to the brewing Greek civil war, his family, much of the general Greek population in that part of the country were caught in the middle. Simply tending to your fields and animals became a dangerous job.
When Antonios was about 8 years old, hoping to help him survive the poor conditions in Orma, his father sent him to work on a family friend’s farm in Aridea, Greece. The family of five sisters, father and mother accepted him with open arms and raised Antonios as one of their own. While there, he worked very hard but also grew very close to that family and ended up working there for several years. The decision to leave them was very difficult for him.
One day, while driving a farm wagon, Antonios passed over a small bridge where the Greek communists had planted landmines. The wheel of his wagon passed one by mere inches. Unfortunately, a 2nd wagon, with another young man and little girl weren’t as lucky.
While in Aridea, he heard of a program on the island of Leros that would train young men in various skills. Antonios joined and completed a Bakers certificate program. He then traveled to Thessaloniki, Greece to find a job in a bakery. Unfortunately, post-civil war Greece was in such a poor state, there were none to be found.
He eventually found his way to an outdoor theater in the city, where he worked as an usher. The job barely paid enough for one meal a day and a room (he often slept at the theater).
While in Thessaloniki, he made many friends in similar situations. One dear friend discovered a connection to come to America. So, Antonios filled out an application for a sponsorship to come to the United States. The church-based program, run by a Mrs. Sherwood in Canton Mass., paid for travel (via train and boat) to come to the US.
After arriving in America, he was greeted by Mrs. Sherwood who introduced him to a Greek Orthodox priest who assisted him with getting into a boarding house and with his employer, the New England Baptist Hospital in Roxbury, Mass. He worked at NEBH for 47 years in the maintenance/housekeeping department.
Antonios was a very gregarious and friendly man who easily made friends. Through some of these friends, he was introduced to his future wife, Irene Pappageorgakopoulos. She was a beautiful young woman who also recently arrived in the US, from Greece. She thought Antonios was very handsome and after a while, they fell in love and married in 1956.
Irene and Antonios began their lives together with very little – from a cold apartment in a three-family house in Roxbury, heated only by a gas stove, they both worked very hard and eventually purchased their own three-family home in Jamaica Plain, MA. After several years in JP, in 1972, they moved to Roslindale, Mass.
Antonios’ life was dedicated to his dear wife and to raising his four children to be respectful hard-working members of society in the country that gave them the opportunity to do so.
Antonios had a tremendous love of his family and of his home country, Greece. He traveled back to Greece with his daughter and son several times. During those trips he visited Orma, Thessaloniki, Halkidiki, with side trips to Prague and Yugoslavia. During those trips, with his daughter Vicky’s help, he was able to reunite with siblings and relatives, some of which he hadn’t seen in over 30 years.
He also loved having a huge vegetable garden every year. As he got older, his daughter Vicky eventually took over installing and maintaining them. In later years he loved looking out at “his” garden and occasionally criticizing Vicky’s placement of plants, use of fertilizer, etc.
Vicky adored her father and would often take him on local east coast trips to visit interesting places. One of his favorite trips was up to Sanbornton, NH, where Vicky has a small cottage on Lake Winnisquam. Antonios loved going there - eating lobster rolls, relaxing, and enjoying the peacefulness of the area.
As Antonios became more seriously ill, Vicky was also the dedicated daughter and primary caregiver at home and the one to set up appointments for doctor’s visits, ER runs and chemo treatments. She loved her father without faltering. He depended on her, and she was always by his side, caring for him.
His son, Nicholas, also doted on his father. Nick would do the heaving lifting whenever there were household tasks that Antonios and Vicky needed assistance with – including the yardwork, housecleaning, and shopping.
Antonios was the father, grandfather, and great grandfather of a large family, all of whom will miss him very much. He is survived by his children, Peter J. Elias and his wife, Andrea N. Elias of Taunton, MA, George A. Elias and Patricia H. Elias of Wrentham, MA, Nicholas K. Elias of Roslindale, MA, and Vicky M. Elias, also of Roslindale, MA; his grandchildren, Gregory P. Elias and his wife, Ellen B. Elias of Charleston, SC, Donna-Kristina Levas and her husband, Konstantinos Levas of Watertown, MA, Erin Elias, Megan Masse of Dighton, MA, Bradford Elias of Wrentham, MA; and his great-grandchildren, Fotini and Amalia Levas. Antonios is also survived by his sister, Eleni Mitreva and her family of Strumica, Republic of Macedonia. He is predeceased by a brother, Christo and sister Cleopatra.
Visiting Hours at the William J. Gormley Funeral Home, 2055 Centre St. West Roxbury on Monday, November 20th from 4-8pm. Funeral Service Tuesday, November 21st at 10:00 am at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral of New England, 514 Parker St., Roxbury. Interment St. Joseph Cemetery. Relatives and friends are invited. For directions and guestbook www.gormleyfuneral.com