Mr Tassos Nicolaides

In the beginning of August of 2022 at 87 years old, we lost our loving father, chanter, educator and friend. His love for literature, church and family was evident to us all. He was an established writer with publishing several books and articles. His travels took him around the world and spent several years in Canada and United States where he visited churches and monasteries admiring and writing about the foundation and flourishing of orthodoxy abroad. His chanting was well known and admired by any community he visited. His writings reflected life experiences from visiting churches and monasteries expressed with colorful memories and photos. 

Tassos was born in Limassol, October 1934. From a young age he would spend time in his local church where he learned to help and chant. He was blessed by God with the gift of chanting. With a scholarship, he studied literature in Athens. At age 23, he returns to Cyprus as a literature teacher and was active in the community driving activities, theater and writing as a journalist. It was a then difficult political climate in Cyprus where he contributed to the love of his country Cyprus, by actively publishing in the local newspapers. In 1981, he published his book “Limassol Phisiognomies” where he wrote about several influential people of Limassol. Throughout his journey as a teacher and then later school principal, he established several new schools in Cyprus and was loved by his students. In 1994, he retired and remained active in the community by teaching, writing, participating in a religious radio program and far most continuing to chant.

From 1979, he started traveling to US and had the opportunity to study further. He was impressed with the Hellenic foundation abroad and was inspired to write in 1994 “America Perigirisis” a traveler’s impression from United States. In the US, he was active in the community as a chanter in several churches and was also writing articles in the local Greek newspapers of New York. In 1999, Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol, ordained him a chanter. Abroad he served for several years as a chanter in the church of St Paraskevi and St Charalambos and the Kimisis of Theotokos in New York. He was a visiting chanter in Canada as well, where he was visiting frequently.

In 2000, he moved to California where his love for the church continued and drove him to the great Greek Orthodox monasteries of Geronda Ephraim. Ananstasios and Theodora, his wife, became spiritual children of Geronda Ephairm. His love for the church continued and published his next book in 2003 about the “Hellenics abroad, United States and Canada” with several pieces from his monastery experiences. His chanting remained memorable in several churches in the San Francisco area.

The closing of this chapter of his life was a beautiful spiritual burial at the monastery surrounded by church fathers, monastics and prayer. He smiles and shines upon us. He dedicated his life to the community, church and his family. He leaves behind his loving wife Theodora and his children Christis, Lena, Marina and son-in-law Michalis. May his memory be internal.

Letter from Geronda Ephraim that he proudly had framed by his desk can be viewed on the photo gallery on the Tribute Wall..