George James Antoniadis

On August 1, 2015, George was called to his heavenly “home” and was welcomed by his father Jim and mother Amelia and all his loved ones “called home” before him. His family lived in Endicott, N.Y. where he was born an only child on March 8, 1948, and raised in a home overflowing with love and all the special “ingredients” for him to grow into a very special and loving man. Although an only child, during his life he touched so many lives in many different ways and thereby collected an unknown number of “brothers and sisters”, thus his life was enhanced in so many special ways. Fresh out of college it was into the Marine Corps he chose to go, and after basic training, he was stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C. , just outside of Jacksonville, N.C., which he soon found out was a very good location. Not too long after coming to Camp Lejeune, he bought a female German Shepherd puppy, and of course he named her “Babe” and knowing she needed her puppy shots, etc., he called the first veterinarian’s office listed in the phone book and made an appointment for Babe for December 1, 1971. As it turned out this was where he met his future wife (Hope) , then a veterinarian’s assistant, and after a couple of visits for Babe, he asked her out for a date, of which she accepted, and long story short, he proposed Valentine’s Day (2/14/72) and she accepted. It was as if they had known each other a long time and were meant to be together. He left in March for Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and returned in September and on 10/29/72 they were married in the Baptist Church in Jacksonville, N.C. with her family and friends, and a week later, 11/5/72, they were married in the Greek Orthodox Church in Endicott, N.Y. with his family and friends. He served his time in the Marine Corps and his rank was Captain, and then his civilian life began, and as it turned out, it was in sales he was the very best. He was quite the salesman, no matter what he sold – shoes, candy, insurance and fun foods – and was very lucky with the different companies he chose and the companies very lucky having George work for them. His jobs took him to New York, Ohio, Virginia, Maryland, Illinois and then to Florida in 1995. He was quite the prankster and could definitely keep you in stitches with the jokes he told and the funny remarks he’d make on many different subjects and occasions, and even to this day there are those that can still see and hear him when he was in one of his funny modes. He loved to read and he definitely wasn’t a slow reader, so the number of books he read and enjoyed were who knows how many. His love of horses began while in college and only grew when in Ohio the friends he made owned riding stables and he helped by taking riders out to see the countryside via a horse. He also had 4-legged friends – a Great Dane named Spartan and a Shetland Sheepdog named Teddi Bear. These were his little boys over a span of 18 years and were so very special to him and he to them. His latest hobby was motorcycles and the friends he made and the special places traveled were well worth time spent on the road no matter what type of weather. There’s so very much about George of all he did and was, and some too hard to put in words, but most of all, he was a very, very special person and one that we all will never forget and always love and we should always live our lives in such a way to make him proud. In loving memory of “My George”, Hope ------- In lieu of flowers, expressions of sympathy may be made in George’s memory to the Community Hospice of Northeast Florida, 4114 Sunbeam Road, Jacksonville, FL 32257