Dimitri Apostolos In Memoriam

Dimitri (Jim) Apostolos, a long-time friend and participant in the Greek Community of Southern California passed away on Monday, September 1, 2008. He was a teacher of Greek language and Greek studies at several universities and colleges in Southern California, including UCLA and Santa Monica College.

James Peter Apostolos was born to Peter and Margaret Apostolos in Birmingham Alabama on March 19, 1934. He spent his formative boyhood years in Alabama and attended Greek school where he learned about his culture, language, and history. Jim served in the U. S. Army reserves. He graduated with honors and received the Bachelor's Degree from the University of Alabama. Then he attended the University of Colorado in Boulder where he received his Master's in Russian literature. There he met Carmen Menendez of Manati, Puerto Rico, and they were married in 1961.The young couple moved to Los Angeles to attend UCLA. Jim started teaching there and continued doing that for many years. He spent the rest of his life teaching many subjects including Modern Greek, Ancient Greek, Russian and English as a Foreign Language. At the same time he continued learning and teaching himself as many as 7 languages.

Jim embraced diversity and was genuinely interested in learning about other cultures. This was his attraction to teaching ESL and he learned at least as much from his students as they did from him. He had a friendly and outgoing nature and his passions were teaching, the outdoors, philosophy, sports, and politics. He enjoyed spending his summers in Greece with friends and relatives. He had a self-described "book-buying" disorder but his remedy was book-giving.

According to friend, Dr. Theo Kolovos, “Jim was one of the original founders and a president of the Save Cyprus Council, now called American Hellenic Council, whose original mission was to support freedom and sovereignty of the Mediterranean island of Cyprus after the 1974 invasion by Turkey. He was very active and never missed a meeting of the Hellenic University Club of Southern California whose purpose is to promote the study and understanding of Hellenic culture in Southern California. He was also an active representative and lobbyist to Washington D.C., working on behalf of the Greek issues.”

James Apostolos is survived by his sister Stella, son Peter, daughter Natalia and his grandchildren Nicole, Alicia, and Liam.

©2008 NEOCORP MEDIA

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