Evangelos Livieratos March 9, 1928 – August 31, 2024
Visitation for Evangelos will occur on Tuesday, September 10, 2024, from 9 AM to 10 AM. Funeral service will follow from 10 AM to 11 AM at St. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church 11025 S. Roberts Rd. Palos Hills, IL 60465. Interment to follow at Good Shepard Catholic Cemetery and Mausoleum, 16201 104th Ave. Orland Park, IL 60467.
All arrangements entrusted to Orrico Kourelis Funeral Services Inc. For additional information please call or text Michael @ 815/260-0668
Evangelos Livieratos, aged 96, passed away peacefully on August 31, 2024, in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Loving father of Evanthia (Michael) Euripides and Mary (Evan) Livieratos. Cherished grandfather of Ana (Ryan), Nick, Eleni, Taso, Vageli, Evan, and Chrysanthi. Dear brother survived by sister Eleni, brother Christos, and sister-in-laws Betty and Julia and fond uncle and great-uncle of many nieces and nephews.
Evangelos will be remembered as an extraordinarily strong, loving, compassionate and funny man. He would wake up singing and whistling every day. His zest for life filled the house with his elaborate dishes, gardening skills, and his amazing storytelling. He was an avid reader of the bible and was a man of great morals, values, and beliefs. He thrived on being there for his daughters, to guide them through life’s challenges, always grounding them with philosophical advice. His daughters always told him he should have been and engineer and mathematician with his quick thinking and ability to repair and improve things. No matter what the obstacle ahead, he would find a way to make you laugh and feel understood. Evangelos was b orn on March 9, 1928 in Lixouri, Kefalonia, Greece to Alexios and Evanthia Livieratos. He was one of eight children. By third grade, he opted to help his father on the farm rather than stay in school, despite his father’s efforts to change his mind. He watched sheep day AND night as a young boy. He developed a muscular build by manually irrigating the crops from a water well. This strength would prove to benefit him throughout his life. Evangelos was also drawn to the needy and would take food from his home (of 13 people) in the middle of the night and give it to the poor.
In the Navy, he became a police officer, establishing important relationships along the way. When his time in the Navy was over, he went to help his brother, who was hospitalized for a number of months. With no job, Evangelos donated blood to help his brother. He would secure an orange, gave it to his brother and ate the peel to get by. He reached out to a General for help who, in turn, sent a military doctor with a new device that helped his brother to recovery. His strong build and stature was noticed by Magrini Energy, an Italian company chartered to lay the electrical grid infrastructure in Greece post WWII. He enjoyed his work, securing supervisory opportunities and adding elements of efficiencies to their processes for several years. He also increased productivity even over a holiday weekend by just showing care and compassion to the staff.
In the late 50’s he accepted an invitation from his older brother to move to Canada, the “land of opportunity”. He quit his job with Magrini Energy in anticipation of his relocation, however the airline ticket took one year to arrive. He kept busy building his sister a house in Lixouri and working locally. Once in Canada, not knowing the language, he started as a dishwasher, reducing his pay from $15 a week to $15 a month. Without the financial means to return to Greece, he slowly and persistently overcame the challenges of an immigrant through a strong work ethic.
In 1964, he made it back to Greece, where he married, returned to his job as the hotel chef and had two young daughters. In 1970, they immigrated to Chicago where he enjoyed many opportunities as a chef with a large following of customers. He continued to build his specialty of dishes for the next 20+ years.
He dedicated his life to his daughters’ progress, providing support to secure opportunities they sought out. He would spend two dollars on pants while sending his girls to Greece to develop relationships with the family and learn about the culture and homeland. He was always there, deep in conversation, guiding his daughters through life’s ups and downs. In 1990, he was fortunate to retire by 65 and became a “snowbird” by traveling between Greece and his daughters in the US. He explored the Mediterranean, spent quality time with his family and cultivated new friendships. With extra time on his hands, he pursued his life-long goal to be closer to God. This is when he slowly taught himself to read Greek and from that time forth, you rarely saw him without his religious books or bible.
In 2018, after his hip replacement surgery at 90 years old, he moved to Virginia, with his daughter, full time. At 94, despite his above-the-knee amputation he continued to build his incredible strength. He amazed us as he continued to do things people 20 years younger could not do, all while pushing through pain, and making us laugh along the way. He got back to his cooking (standing up with one leg), making his signature pizza, bread or creating a new dish. You could smell Papou’s cooking when you walked through that door. He would get a burst of energy when he went shopping or as he talked about his plans for home projects. Even on his last day on earth he was whistling and story-telling. Papou will continue to be present in our lives with his stories, poems, strong faith, courage, compassion, and strength. We are surrounded by his touch with his fig trees, pink oleanders, canna lilies, a new kitty he started feeding two months ago and two tomato plants. May His Memory be Eternal. All arrangements entrusted to Orrico Kourelis Funeral Services Inc.
The Grandchildren that filled Papou’s life:
Ana (29) – My beautiful (pronounced “ Peautiful ”). He’d always say “Peutiful, how are you?”. Ana was the granddaughter that immersed herself in being “Greek”. She actively sought out to absorb as much as possible from Papou. She sought out his view on mythology, history, Greek culture and they practiced Greek together.
Niko (27) – Papou always referred to Nick as the ” Prime Minister “. Papou always admired him as he watched him turn into a fine young man, tall and handsome, taking after his father with those blue eyes. Niko shared the basement with his Papou during high school where they enjoyed watching wrestling. Today, Niko effortlessly creates his own signature dishes impressing family and friends.
Eleni (19) – “ Angelic Angel ”. She would wake him up every morning very early and he would make her crepes. They both had a love for animals and cuddled a lot while watching TV.
Taso (17) – The CEO! – Papou couldn’t wait to see what Taso would do in school. He was the quiet, serious kid and Papou would say that he will become something special as he didn’t clown around and was a very serious young man.
Vageli (15) – “ Palikari” – “Papou would say he reminds me of myself when I was young. I would be kind and help everyone out but very strong warrior type.”
Evan (19) – “My Boy” – Evan always checked on Papou when he woke up, came home from school/work, and when he went to bed. He went straight to Papou, gave him a kiss and a hug and asked if he was ok. Papou would ask Evan for help when cooking and would tell him he was the “best in the west”. They also had this unwritten transaction where Papou would leave Evan a fun snack should he wake up in the middle of the night.
Chrysanthi (16) – “ Best Girl in Town ”. They were fierce chess opponents and Papou would bring a quiet smile to his face as he presented her with a checkmate. He was proud and grateful of her commitment to her faith and participation in the church. He always told her to learn Greek, become a diplomat or a lawyer, and work in both countries.