Sadly we lost the patriarch of our family, Lambros Yoannidis on December 12th, 2016. He had a peaceful passing with no pain, which was a blessing.
He will be greatly missed by his daughter Irene Bilsland (Ian), his son Kris Yoannidis, his grandchildren Jen Wilson (Mike Kostorowski), Alexanderina Deline (Marc), Andrew Bilsland (Janine Speirs), Mikaila Yoannidis, his great grandchildren Liam, Tanner, Myles and Adrian as well as many relatives and friends locally and abroad.
Lambros was born February 4th, 1932 in the village of Foustani, Greece. When he was 16 years old, he and his younger sister Katina were separated from their father Kristos, mother Zafiritsa and older brother Panayotis due to the Civil War in Greece. For safety reasons, they were sent by train to Hungary, to be reunited with their family at some later date. This was a difficult time for many families and some of his relatives ended up in Yugoslavia and the Boston area in USA.
His eldest brother Panayotis passed away at a young age of 24 in Yugoslavia, and it was after that period that his parents immigrated to Hungary where they were finally reunited.
He met his wife Anthoula Dundas who had also immigrated to Hungary at the age of 10 along with her oldest sister Sofia due to the same circumstances. Her other siblings Kiratsa, Steve and their mother Jordana remained in Greece and later immigrated to Canada.
Anthoula and Lambros married in 1958 and started their family in 1960. They had a very strong sense of family and even though times were tough, they provided support to their extended families whenever they could.
Lambros wanted to provide a better standard of living for his immediate family, so with assistance from Anthoula’s brother Steve and his wife Helen, the family moved to Canada in 1970, followed by his mother one year later (His father Kristos had passed away in Hungary in 1967).
His first job was working at Atlantic Packaging and he also took on a variety of weekend renovation jobs to support his family. He later worked as a metal fabricator at Veral Metals, from where he eventually retired.
True to their generous and family oriented nature, Lambros and Anthoula helped three of their nephews and their families emigrate from Hungary to Canada in the late 1970’s so they could also improve their lives.
His mother Zafiritsa passed away in 1978 in Canada. Sadly his wife Anthoula also passed away on July 18th, 2013, after which his health started to decline. His son Kris moved in with him to provide assistance and after he had a quadruple bypass in 2014, he moved in with his daughter Irene and her husband Ian in Caledon. This allowed him to spend more time with his family and there were many happy shared memories, especially at the cottage where he liked to create the biggest bonfires you could ever imagine.
Through the years, he kept in touch with many of his extended family and friends, calling them regularly.
He was a great story teller, which allowed us to appreciate the hardships he went through. His memories were not those written in History books, but they reflected the true day to day lives of his people. Prior to his passing, the only worry that he had was for his children, grandchildren and his great grandchildren. He wanted them to have happy and meaningful lives.
Two days prior to his passing when he was a bit delirious he had asked for bread and water even though he couldn’t eat any more. The hardships he had faced as a child were obviously very vivid and ingrained in his memories.
He was a proud man who had very strong sense of morals and values and he expected the best from everyone around him, including himself. Those of us who remain behind will carry his torch and will live the values that he passed on to us. He will always be in our thoughts, in our hearts and will continue to have a huge presence in our lives.
He has joined those who passed on before him and we will always miss him.
We love you Dad, Apu, Baba, Papu and may you rest in peace.