The butterfly collection in Ethel Barbas’ home personifies her joyful and optimistic visits with family and friends as she travels the roads in western Washington. Testimony to her travel is her 1997 Honda del Sol with over 350,000 miles.

 Magdaline “Molly” Tsalaky (nee Barbas) treasures the musings of her father’s writing on whatever paper was available, even the back of vegetable can labels.

  George, Andrew and Angelo Ballasiotes’ youthful escapades were occasionally overlooked as their father Christos was well known and respected in Aberdeen, Washington.  The three brothers grew up at a time when the Grays Harbor logging camps and sawmills provided significant wealth for its residents and where a surprisingly large number of Greeks settled.  Their love and admiration for their father who they say was the kindest and most generous person you would ever meet permeates their stories.

Born in Washington State, Diana Aristides Bacas (nee Delimitros) has the best of three worlds and is equally at home in Madrid, Athens or Seattle.  She also believes that she is truly blessed to have lived in this particular timeframe of history, to have been born in Seattle, wanted and loved by her family and to have experienced an extraordinary and unique timeframe of aviation history.

Steve and Anna Athan spent over 30 years combining hard work and his tailoring skills to achieve a successful career in Seattle, Washington.  They share their stories of growing up on farms in Greece and their experiences in America.

 “Yesterdays are history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is God’s gift of love, that is why it is called the present.” Katheren (Aikatereni) Armatas (nee Sarantinos) used this quote at the end of a video she prepared.  However, it is fitting to place the quote at the beginning of this exhibit as it so aptly describes the inspiration for her work.  That work includes several contributions to two volumes about Tacoma, Washington, a book about her family’s journey and experiences titled “A Lingering Breeze from Marmara Sea,” a video of early Greek immigrants in Tacoma, and a video of her own poetry, writings and reminiscences. 

If a picture is worth a thousand words, there are millions of words in Vivian (Vasiliki) Arger’s (nee Deliganes) home.

Constantinos “Costas” Nikolaos Antonopoulos brought his skills as a pastry chef to Seattle, Washington, in 1968. From there he expanded his culinary skills and became a successful and respected restaurateur.

Despite their father’s admonitions, Basil and Jim Anton have spent over 40 years together in the restaurant and catering business. Their restaurants, Anton’s and Charlie’s, became centers of political, economic and community activity in Washington’s Puyallup valley.

Great yiayia (grandmother) was too long to say for Willene (Vasiliki) Delegans Allison’s great grandson, so the name for this family matriarch became simply “Great.”

It’s not just George Alex’s height, but the extent of his generosity and honest reputation that earn him this title.

Combine international travel, service with a Greek flair and 50 years of marriage and you have an excellent example of a couple who have made important contributions to the Greek experience in Washington State.

Heracles Panagiotides is a scholar, researcher, and philosopher. Almost everything about him reflects his Greek heritage and his Greek Orthodox faith. He has taught the Greek language to innumerable students and even his parrot speaks Greek.

Constantine “Gus” George Chamales retired as a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army after a 21-year career. In retirement he has managed the military ministry of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in Tacoma, Washington, a task that documents and honors those Church members who have served their country. With a deep interest in history, he has also been able to trace his family back to the 1700s.

 Since 2009, John and Joann Nicon have been conducting video interviews with Greeks and Greek-Americans in Washington State.  With the help of many others, stories from those interviews have been shared worldwide.   Now, here is a little information about John and Joann and their work with the Greek-American Historical Museum of Washington State.