SEPTEMBER 2002
PEOPLE
u Cited for valor
U.S. Under Secretary of Defense Edward Aldrich recently presented Harry Chelpon, a civilian employee of the Department of Defense its Medal of Valor for his actions in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack against the Pentagon. With-
HARRY CHELPON (L) with Under Secretary Edward Aldrich
out thought to his personal safety, he reentered the burning section of the Pentagon he had fled to retrieve first aid supplies to assist two U.S. Marine officers aiding a Navy officer who had suffered a severe cut to the head. Mr. Chelpon, a trained first-aid instructor, also helped three other injured persons and helped evacuate some of the injured from the burning building. He reentered the building twice to retrieve first-aid supplies. Mr. Chelpon is the son of retired priest Fr. Theodore H. Chelpon. He and his family are members of St. Katherine s Church in Falls Church, Va. From 1981-94, he served as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Coast Guard. He is a veteran of Operation Desert Storm and has won several awards and commendations.
ORTHODOX OBSERVER
Church Built by a Priest-Monk from Patmos
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nlike the typical experience of most of this country s Greek Orthodox communities, which immigrants established after years of struggle, the church of Zoodochos Peghe (Life-Giving Fountain) resulted through the efforts of a monk pursuing his vision. While studying at the renowned seminary of St. John the Divine on Patmos in the early 1900s, Fr. Parthenios Kolonis fondest dream was to serve the Lord as a missionary. After completing his studies, Kolonis became a deacon to Patriarch Sofronios of Alexandria, but soon left for America to serve as a much-needed missionary.
PARISH
Ohio. It is the oldest organized settlement in the state. Since the late 1980s, with the decline of the steel industry, it has become a smaller community (population about 7,500) and is no longer the industrial center it once was. Along with Wheeling, the community lies at the southern end of a crescentshaped, formerly industrial corridor taking in the upper Ohio Valley, bending around to Pittsburgh, and the Monongahela River valley in southwestern Pennsylvania. Steel, glassmaking, chemicals and coal mining had been the primary industries until the 1970s and 80s. Over the past 100 years, thousands of Greek immigrants established several churches throughout this region.
Greek Orthodox Church Location: Martins Ferry, Ohio Diocese: Pittsburgh Size: about 150 members Founded: 1921 Clergy: Fr. Menelaos Papageorgiou (Univ. of Athens Theological School 66) Noteworthy: Church originally
Drexel University President Constantine Papadakis recently presented the university s President s Medal to George D. Behrakis, of Tewksbury, Mass., a member of the Archdiocesan Council Executive Committee, at a formal dinner hosted in his honor on the occasion of the formal dedication of the George D. Behrakis Grand Hall. Among those attending were LeBow College of Business Dean George Tsetsekos and Senior Vice President for Student Life and Administrative Services Anthony Caneris.
Fr. Kolonis first assignment was to A difficult beginning establish a church in Milwaukee, Wis. Though Fr. Kolonis managed to comFrom there, he went to Wheeling, plete the building project, because of the W.Va., where he founded St. John the political situation in Greece that affected Divine Church. the Church here, it was nearly impossible In 1921, he ventured across the to get canonical recognition for his monOhio River to the small city of Martins astery, and equally difficult to attract men Ferry, where a small number of Greeks to take monastic vows. lived, to establish Zoodochos Peghe. But in 1929, Archbishop Alexander of He intended for the church to the young Archdiocese of North and South serve first as a monastery and, second, America granted recognition to the church as a parish church. Spending $7,000 of as the Monastery of his own money, Fr. Kolonis Zoodochos Peghe and purchased two lots at named Fr. Kolonis as 314-316 North Fifth abbot. Street. The priest-monk He borrowed died in 1933 and the money from a local dream of developing MARTINS FERRY bank to build the small the monastery ended, two-story church, but the church did serve which was completed the needs of the surin 1923 on the same site rounding Greek Orthodox where the present population. church now stands. After Fr. Kolonis death, paMeanwhile, most rishioners held a general assembly church services for the and authorized acting President small Greek community took place in Manousos Zourides to contact the Monasthe Hungarian hall while weddings and tery of Zoodochos Peghe in Patmos, the heir funerals were held at the local Roma- to the priest s estate, to acquire title to the nian Orthodox church. church. The Greek community agreed to assume the church s debt and sent the Rails and steel beckon Years earlier, around the turn of Patmos monastery $1,000 as full payment. Meanwhile, the community s next the century, Greek immigrants had settled in Martins Ferry and surround- priest, Fr. Christos Papalambrou, was asing towns to work on the railroads and signed to the parish. During these Depression years, interin the steel industry. The came mainly nal strife and economic instability plagued from Crete and Chios, and from other Aegean islands including Lipso and the parish until 1935 when Zoodochos Samos, and the Ionian islands of Peghe received its charter of incorporation from the state of Ohio. Cephalonia and Zakynthos. By the latter part of the decade, the Martins Ferry had its beginnings in community began to outgrow the small 1785, and is named for the Ohio River ferry operated by Ebenezer Martin that church and parishioners initiated a buildconnected what was then Virginia with ing fund drive, which for a long time had remained stagnant.
u NYU honoree
New York University s College of Arts and Sciences recently presented the Distinguished Alumni Award to George Safiol of Weston, Mass., a trustee of Hellenic College-Holy Cross and noted business leader and philanthropist. The award was presented to Mr. Safiol at Radio City Music Hall in recognition of his involvement with NYU.
u Eagle Scout Nicholas Theodore Papafil, son of Fr. and Mrs. Theodore Papafil of Norfolk, Va., was inducted as an Eagle Scout and presented with the Alpha Omega Religious Award in ceremonies held recently. Nicholas also is an altar boy at Annunciation Cathedral, vice president of GOYA and a member of the senior Greek Folk Dance troop.
A succession of priests Fr. Papalambrou served the community until 1942. Several priests fol-
Name: Zoodochos Peghe
was intended to be a monastery
E*Trade Chairman and CEO Christos Cotsakos recently was bestowed with an honorary Doctor of Business Administration degree by Drexel University President Constantine Papadakis at the school s 115 th commencement. In 2001, Mr. Cotsakos was a recipient of an honorary degree from Hellenic College-Holy Cross.
During the 1940s, the first generation of American born Greek Orthodox in Martins Ferry were taught Greek by Mrs. Angeliki Rose, who tirelessly also made the rounds to Yorkville and Bellaire to hold classes. Meanwhile, by 1950, the building fund had finally reached $50,000 and construction on a new church could finally begin. A parish committee traveled to Huntington, W.Va., to view the newly built St. George Church, which served as the model for the new (present) Zoodochos Peghe.
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ZOODOCHOS PEGHE GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH lowed over the next 25 years: Frs. Spyridon Coutros, who invigorated the building fund drive; George Papaloucas, who also served as Greek school teacher; Meletios Kestekides, the first to serve in the newly built church; George Gallas, the first American-born priest; Constantine Raptis, who worked closely with the youth; Frank Kirlangitis, who was ordained in the parish; Constantine Mager, an interim priest; and Emmanuel Z. Vasilakis, who initiated a remodeling project. Fr. Papageorgiou arrived in 1967, succeeding Fr. Vasilakis, and has continuously served the parish since then. Originally from Paphos, Cyprus, Fr. Papageorgiou, the son of a priest, had to quit high school to take care of a younger sister after his father died. He was ordained as a deacon in 1949 at the age of 22 by the local bishop, Cleopas. He had learned the basic duties and functions of a priest, and Byzantine chant, from his father. He went on to serve as diocese chancellor and as deacon to Archbishop Makarios. Prior to his ordination, Fr. Papageorgiou married the daughter of a priest, Erasmia Papaconstantinou, his presbytera of more than 50 years, who was introduced to him by Bishop Cleopas. Beginning in the 1950s, he served for 10 years at St. Nicholas Church in Kalithea, a neighborhood in Athens, and completed his theological studies at the University of Athens in 1966. That year, he was invited to come to the United States by Archbishop Iakovos. After a few months in Wichi-
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