We sadly announce the passing of Canadian Cypriot Panayiotis Athanassiades

It is with great sadness we announce the passing of Panayiotis Athanassiades. He was a very humble and sincere man. We wish our deepest sympathy to the family and may his memory remain eternal…

The funeral service took place on Saturday February 5th, 2022 at 10:00 AM at Sts. Peter and Paul Greek Orthodox Church, 527 Bridgeport Road, Kitchener.
Internment at Parkview Cemetery, Waterloo, it was followed by a wake/dinner at the Community Hall of Sts. Peter and Paul Greek Orthodox Church.
Athanassiades, Panayiotis (“Peter”) January 20th, 1938 – January 13th, 2022.
Passed away after a long, courageous struggle at Grand River Hospital, one week short of his 84th birthday.

Panayiotis was born and raised in Galata, Cyprus, a beautiful village located west of the nation’s capital of Nicosia. Panayiotis had a steel trap mind. He skipped one year of grade school and at the age of 11, entered the prestigious Mitsis High School where he excelled in academics, particularly in mathematics. At the age of 13 he accelerated to college, having won a 5-year scholarship to attend the Technical School of Nicosia which, at the time, was a British Military Academy and Polytechnic Institute. In 1956, he graduated at the top of his class in Electrical Engineering and Technology. He was offered a position straight out of college with Cyprus Telecommunications in Nicosia.

Panayiotis was fiercely independent. He loved to travel and he loved adventure. For the next 11 years, he travelled the world and worked in such places as England, Ghana, Libya, Lebanon and the Emirate nations including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Dubai. In 1965, his quest for adventure led him to respond to a government sponsorship of qualified electricians/electrical engineers in Canada. Panayiotis was jokingly referred to as the “man who lived out of his suit-case”. Everyone believed him to be an eternal bachelor.

In 1967, all things changed for Panayiotis. While visiting his family in Cyprus, he met his future wife, Andri. She was “the most beautiful and intelligent woman he had ever met”. He was determined to make her his wife. He got his wish. Before Panayiotis returned to Canada, the two became engaged. Thereafter they were in a long-distance relationship and wrote letters to each other for over a year. Many years later, their children discovered Panayiotis’s letters to their mother tied together with ribbons and stowed inside a drawer. His letters to their mother were the most beautifully written, heart-felt letters of love and adornment that his son and daughter had ever read.

On February 18th, 1968 Andri arrived in Canada. Panayiotis was finally re-united with his beautiful “princess”. They married on March 3rd, 1968 in Hamilton, Ontario. They went on to have two children, their daughter Dina and their son Andrew, whom they lovingly raised in Waterloo, Ontario. This year would have marked their 54th wedding anniversary.

For over 30 years, Panayiotis worked on the electrical aspects of some of the most major infrastructure projects in Ontario, including the nuclear power stations in Pickering, Douglas-Point, and Port Darlington. His last projects before retiring included the GM Automotive Plant in Windsor. Locally he worked on such projects as the Seagram’s Distilleries, Budd Automotive, Fairview Park Mall, Conestoga Mall, the King Centre, Market Square, Manulife, Langdon Hall, Wilfrid Laurier University, Knob Hill Farms and Freeport Hospital.

He was a proud member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (Local 804 Chapter), Sts. Peter and Paul Greek Orthodox Church and the Greek-Cypriot Community of Waterloo Region.

Panayiotis loved his family life, which was the true source of his pride and his strong will to live. Panayiotis had the heart of a saint and the brain of a supercomputer. Yet he was very spiritual. His words of advice were always comforting, optimistic and good to live by.

Although Panayiotis loved his life in Canada, Cyprus was always his “happy place”. He was proud of the holiday home in Cyprus which he and Andri had recently built. Panayiotis was hoping for one last trip to Cyprus to pay homage to his relatives and his place of birth. Unfortunately, COVID-19 travel bans and his subsequent decline in health prevented his last wish from being fulfilled.

Beloved husband and best friend of Andriana (Andri) Athanassiades (nee Taliotis). Proud father of Dina Konduros (Robert) and Andrew. Pre-deceased by his parents, Andreas and Eleni (nee Pavlidou) Athanassiades of Cyprus. Dear brother of Persephone (Costa) Benaki and the late Trifonis (Persa) Athanassiades of Cyprus. Dear uncle of Andreas, Lenia, Xanthos, Nikos, and Eftoulla of Cyprus. Dear brother-in-law of Theodore and the late George Taliotis of Canada, and Angela Mina of England. Dear uncle to Christina, Roger, Althea, Elena and Mary-Beth of Canada and Dina and Andri of England.