Kyriacos Christou Antoniades

It is with shattered hearts that we say farewell to our precious family patriarch. Kyriacos "Tony" Christou Antoniades, age 88, of Marietta, GA passed away peacefully on November 21, 2023 to be with the Lord and all of his loved ones who had passed before him.

Tony was born in Yialousa, Cyprus on January 6, 1935, to Christakis Antoniades and Loukia Hadjileonti. He led a very impoverished childhood and shared the lessons he learned during that time with his family throughout his life. At the age of twelve, he moved to Cyprus' capital city of Nicosia, where he finished high school. After graduation, he moved to London to attend the Imperial College where he graduated with a degree in aircraft engineering. While studying, he met his future wife, Marlies, in a dance hall frequented by all the young Cypriots on Saturday nights. It was love at first sight. They married in England (Justice of the Peace) and again in Switzerland (Church) in the early 1960s. He spent the next few years working in the aircraft industry in England and Montreal, before being recruited by Lockheed Martin in Marietta, GA in 1966 to work on their C-5A project, creating the largest airplane in the world at the time. He was also invited to work at Lockheed's "Skunkworks" facility in Burbank, CA to work on top secret Cold War projects, an honor only bestowed upon the best engineers. He eventually retired from Lockheed Martin Corporation after working on the wings of the L-1011, the C-130, and the C-141.

In 1978, he and Marlies purchased the Burger Inn in Woodstock, GA to try out their entrepreneurial skills. After working five days a week at Lockheed, he spent each weekend tinkering at their restaurant as the resident maintenance man and eating away any potential profits. In 1980, they purchased a time-share in Hilton Head Island, SC, which the family still uses for their annual beach gathering to this day. During the week, Tony spent his evenings working in his yard, displaying his incredible green thumb for all the world to see and keeping his pool pristine. He also enjoyed putting together kit radios and TVs, and working on his cars. As the grandchildren arrived, he made every effort to go to their various sporting events and school activities, watching them all with great pride. He and Marlies were avid cruisers, bowled on a team for most of their lives in the US, and enjoyed regular Saturday night Bocce games with dear friends. He has been a huge wrestling fan since the 1960s and spent his last few months watching and rewatching every match he could find on Peacock. Each Christmas, his family was guaranteed two things: lottery scratch-off tickets and homemade baklava which had been painstakingly made without the use of any kitchen power tools. He was a perfectionist, and adamant about making it the "old fashioned way." In the end, the love he put into his creation always produced the best baklava anyone had ever tasted. With his warm and gentle demeanor, incredible patience, wonderful sense of humor, and eternal gratefulness for all the blessings that had been bestowed upon him, he was loved by everyone who ever met him. His lifelong goal was to provide a better life for his children than the one he had, and he was wildly successful at this task. Nothing meant more to him than the gathering of his ever-growing family, and we know that he was happy and at peace on his last day as he was surrounded by his loved ones who had come to say their goodbyes.

Tony is survived by his wife of sixty-two years, Maria "Marlies" Müller Antoniades; daughter Daniela Jordan and her children David "Nick" Jordan (Sydney), Christopher Jordan and Callie Jordan Carnelly (Joseph); daughter Michelle Antoniades and her children Austin "Audi" Plemmons (Taylor), Mathew "Tanner" Plemmons and Marissa "Hope" Fahrenthold; son Anthony "Tony" Antoniades (Shay) and their children William Antoniades, Andrew "Drew" Antoniades and Phoebe Antoniades; two great grandsons, Thomas “Tommi” Carnelly and Beau Jordan (who was born the day before Tony passed) and a great granddaughter on the way; and a nephew and six nieces in Cyprus and Greece. He was preceded in death by his parents, his two sisters (Athenoulla Vasileiou and Milia Papanicola), and his son-in-law David Jordan.

Please join us in celebrating his life on Thursday, November 30th, 2023, at 11:00 AM, in the Chapel of Georgia Memorial Park Funeral Home and Cemetery, 2000 Cobb Parkway South, Marietta, Georgia, 30060. The family will receive friends, 1 hour prior to the service. His Committal, will be held on the grounds of Georgia Memorial Park Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you send memorials to Wellstar Hospice to acknowledge the incredible service they provided for Tony and his family in his last days. Online memorials can be made at https://www.wellstar.org/community/foundation/ways-to-give/give-to-hospice.

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