Beloved husband, father, grandfather.

February 5, 1935 – February 21, 2013

His mother passed away shortly after giving birth to twins in 1940; he helped raise the twin boys with his sister and grandmother.

In 1941 during the Second World War, Nazi soldiers occupied half the family home. He witnessed many atrocities by the Nazis and was left with mental and emotional scars; in his later years, he often had great difficulty talking about these events.

He completed elementary / middle school and went to work in a local foundry in 1951 to help his family, he would read whatever books he could get his hands on during his lunch breaks. A local bookstore merchant saw him standing outside the window looking for any new books and he befriended him and told him he could borrow any book he wanted.

He joined the Air Force in 1953, and following completion of service obtained a commercial truck drivers license in 1956.

He opened commercial truck tire sales & auto body businesses in Argos in 1958.

He built strong friendships with neighboring businesses and helped to restore an abandoned WWII era military automobile with a group of mechanic friends.

In 1960 he married Vasiliki they had three children. Pete, Kiki & Helen.

Immigrated to the US in 1972 with family after economic conditions in Greece hurt his businesses.

In 1972 through 1974 he worked for relatives in restaurants and learned the business very quickly, he attended night school and made good progress with the English language.

In 1975 he partnered with two relatives in a Baldwin Park based restaurant business and later bought it himself, in 1981 following a family vacation to Greece he bought a second restaurant business in Rosemead.

He worked tirelessly many hours and never took any other vacations or time off. In the later half of the 1990s his health began to decline because of stress and depression and he suffered a stroke, this was followed by other health issues that he resisted treatment for until he got very sick.

He could strike up a conversation with anyone and make friends very quickly, he had a low-key personality that everyone trusted almost instantly, family and friends loved him and remember his lighthearted attitude toward life and how he understood the many struggles that we are all presented with every day.

His strong will and sharp wit was obvious to all that knew him, and he could not easily be convinced to compromise or make changes.

Dear Nick, We will all miss you dearly and you will be remembered for your tireless dedication to family and friends.

Trisagion will be Monday, February 25, 2013 at 7:00pm. Funeral Service will be Tuesday February 26, 2013, at 10:00am, both held at Saint Anthony Greek Orthodox Church, 778 South Rosemead Blvd., Pasadena. Interment will follow at Rose Hills Greek Foundation Section. Arrangements under the direction of Chapman Funeral Home, Terry & Mary Harmon. Toll free (855)628-0447. www.chapmanfuneralcare.com.