CONSTANTINOS (GUS) PAPADOPOULOS

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CONSTANTINOS (GUS) PAPADOPOULOS Constantinos (Gus) Papadopoulos was born on November 25, 1935, in Patras, Greece. He was the middle child of five. Constantinos began working when he was 12, and joined the Greek Navy at the age of 15. He met his wife Pigi (Peggy) Gasparatou, in 1958. She was the sister of his best friend, Spyros. They married on August 16, 1959, in Pireas, Greece. Their son, Kyriacos, was born there in December of 1960. Constantinos transferred to Souda, Crete, as a Naval Navigator, where his second son, Socrates, was born in November of 1961. The family lived in Souda for two and a half years. In April 1963, he left the Navy to move to Kyriaki to support his wife who was posted there as a mid-wife. Whether it was cleaning, cooking or quitting his job, Gus was a strong supporter of his wife and family. He worked in Kyriaki at the local aluminium factory until he moved to the land of plenty .... Thompson, Manitoba, in May of 1970. His family followed in July of 1970. The family lived in Thompson, but he worked at Jenpeg and commuted every week. They established a close network of Greek friends, who became their extended family. They moved to Winnipeg in 1979 to support their sons who were entering college and university. In Winnipeg, Constantinos became a contractor and was affectionately known as Papa Gus . He retired in 2004 and took up fishing more seriously. He loved to play tavli (backgammon), fix things around the house, he was an avid reader and collector of military and naval memorabilia, and loved to watch wrestling. He travelled back to Greece on many occasions, and in the summer of 2010 he had the great pleasure to take his three grandchildren back to Greece, to show them all the places that he loved. Constantinos passed away peacefully the morning of October 17. He is predeceased by his mother Constantina and father Kyriakos. He is survived by his loving wife, Pigi, his son, Kyriacos (Rosanne), his son Socrates (Anne), grandchildren (Jazmin, Karsten, Keegan) and his sister Eva (Antonis). Also survived by his sisters Sia and Hariklia and brother Andreas in Greece. Prayers to be held at St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church, 2255 Grant Avenue, Thursday, October 20 at 7:00 p.m. Funeral to be held Friday, October 21 at 11:00 a.m. at the same location with interment to follow at Waverley Memorial Gardens. Donations gratefully accepted to CancerCare, Manitoba.

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As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Oct 20, 2011