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Angelos, Paterakis Inducted at Baltimore Sun’s Hall of Fame
by Maria Ioannidis*
On Thursday, June 9th the Baltimore Sun inducted two ultra successful Greek-Americans in its’ Business & Civic Hall of Fame: Superlawyer Peter G. Angelos and baker-turned-developer, John Paterakis, Sr.
Peter Angelos’ parents immigrated to America from the island of Karpathos. He graduated from the University of Baltimore School of Law, where he was named class valedictorian. Today, thanks to his generous gifts, the main Law Building is called The John & Frances Angelos Law Center, in honor of his parents. He started his own law firm, right upon graduation, the Law Offices of Peter Angelos, specializing in product liability cases. Some of his most famous cases involved asbestos litigation (settled in 1992) and suing Philip Morris while representing the State of Maryland. In 1993, Angelos led a group of local investors in acquiring the city’s Major League Baseball team, the Baltimore Orioles, where he is still the majority owner. He has sat on the Board of Trustees of the Johns Hopkins University, the University of Maryland Medical System and the University of Baltimore. In 1996, he received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor. Angelos, a staunch Democrat, has given millions to the Democratic Party and its candidates. He is known for his generosity to numerous organizations, including the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Announciation in downtown Baltimore. Angelos is married to Georgia Kousouris, and they have two sons, John, who is the COO of the Orioles, and Louis, who works at the law firm.
John Paterakis’ family came to the United States from the island of Chios. In a young age, John took over the family-owned business, H&S Bakery, co-founded by his father, Steve Paterakis and Harry Tsakalos. H&S is one of the biggest bakeries in the country, thanks to a handshake deal that John personally struck with Ray Kroc of McDonalds, which is still the bakery’s biggest account. However, Paterakis became known around Maryland for developing the posh Harbor East neighborhood in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor waterfront. It all started with then Mayor William Donald Schaefer asking Paterakis to temporarily buy the land, and promised to buy it back. Schaefer did not come through and this is when H&S Properties was formed to develop the land. Today, Harbor East is the place ‘to see and be seen’ in downtown Baltimore, with several high-end retail stores, restaurants, luxury condominiums and hotels, including the Four Seasons Hotel – Baltimore, that the family owns. Paterakis proudly supports all Greek Orthodox Churches in the area, and is always attending Greek community events throughout the years, being a major donor and supporter. He is married to Roula Paterakis and has six children with his first wife, Antoinette.
At Thursday’s reception, John Paterakis addressed the crowd while receiving his award, reminding attendees that ‘whatever he has achieved is for his children’ and that he ‘is just a Greek baker who got lucky’. He said that Harbor East became what it is today ‘little by little’ and asked people to stay tuned for more developments in the near future.
Peter Angelos was not able to attend the event. Other inductees at the Baltimore Sun Hall of Fame included philanthropist & art collector Robert Meyerhoff, CEO of T. Rowe Price Jim Kennedy, and Chip Mason – founder of giant asset-manager Legg Mason.
The story is courtesy of the Baltimore Sun.
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