WILMINGTON — Anthony Leonidas “Tony” Vassilaros, 94, passed away peacefully Friday, April 19, 2019. He was the youngest of eight children born April 11, 1925, in Cairo, Egypt, to parents Leonidas and Eleni Vassilaros.
He is survived by his wife, Toula (Saffo); children, Elaine (Steele), Argiro, Betty and Leonidas Vassilaros; and grandson, Gregory Anthony Steele.
Following his childhood in Cairo, Tony met his wife Toula on their ancestral island of Ikaria, Greece, and married after a whirlwind courtship on Oct. 11, 1954. The only one of his siblings to immigrate to America, Tony soon began a career in Baltimore, Maryland, at Klicos Painting Company, which would last nearly 40 years. He raised his family in Baltimore, aside from summers spent at his wife’s hometown of Wrightsville Beach.
An avid reader, Tony will be remembered as a scholar of history with a great sense of humor who loved seafood, music, walking and slot machines. Proud of his Ikarian and Greek roots, he instilled a lifelong sense of pride for his Greek heritage in his family. He was a loving husband, father, grandfather and uncle to a large extended family that stretched from North Carolina and Baltimore, to Zimbabwe and Greece.
Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m., Tuesday, April 23, at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, 608 S. College Road, Wilmington. A viewing will be held prior to the service at the church from noon to 1 p.m. Internment will follow in Oakdale Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, Wilmington.
Share online condolences with the family at Andrews Mortuary & Crematory.
