George Peter Kolovos

George Peter Kolovos was born on May 21, 1937, in the historic village of Karyes, located in Laconia near Sparta in the southern part of mainland Greece. He was the oldest of four children born to Panagiotis and Maria Kolovos. He finished high school in Tripoli and in 1956, migrated by boat to the United States. He first lived in Chicago and worked at various restaurants as a dishwasher, busboy, and waiter while taking English lessons and saving money for college. In September 1957, he enrolled at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering. He then moved to Los Angeles, where he first worked for the Lockheed Corporation. He then worked for Hughes Aircraft Company while concurrently studying at the University of California, Los Angeles, and graduated with an M.S. in Engineering in 1966, specializing in Microwaves. He worked at Hughes Aircraft for 32 years as an engineer, rising to department head in the Radar Systems Group, where he developed antenna systems. He innovated advanced techniques that significantly reduced the manufacturing costs and improved the performance of antennas used in some of the most advanced aircraft of the time, including the F-15, F-16, and F-18 fighter jets. While working at Hughes, he also began working in real estate, building four apartment buildings, and started to build a portfolio of multi-family buildings primarily in West Los Angeles. Upon his retirement from Hughes, George devoted himself to real estate full-time and created a successful and well-regarded real estate investment and management company, GPK & Associates. He also designed and built a townhome development that set new precedents for design and price point in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles. In recent years, his real estate activity expanded to include retail properties throughout the U.S.

George was a philanthropist and champion of Greek culture, committed to creating bridges between his birth and adopted countries. He established the George P. Kolovos Family Centennial Term Chair in Hellenic Studies at UCLA and was a major sponsor of the Los Angeles Greek Film Festival from its inception to the present day. He also supported the Society for the Revival of the Nemean Games and the American School of Classical Studies at Athens.

He will be remembered for his warmth and love of life. At gatherings and celebrations, he was always the first to get up to sing with his entire being and dance with wondrous joy and abandon. He valued pragmatism and being down to earth. He aspired to a “live like the Spartans”, adhering to the ancient Greek maxim of “everything in moderation” and seeking to achieve “peace of mind”. He loved hiking in the Santa Monica Mountains and the Parnonas Mountains near Karyes. One of his beloved memories was trekking in 2003 with his daughter Maria-Elena in the Himalayan Mountains of Nepal. He also loved gardening and landscaping, and created exquisite flower arrangements from his garden for his family and friends. He was full of stories, from his childhood surviving the German occupation and the Greek Civil War to his travels in Europe to his experiences coming to, and falling in love with, America.

Above all, George was tireless, selfless, and unwavering in his dedication, support, and love of his family. In “leaving this little planet,” he leaves behind his wife, Tina, and children, Peter and Maria-Elena Kolovos, and their spouses, Sole Karafotia and Brett Winton. He cherished his four grandchildren, Akylas, Ioni, Konstalena, and Hypatia, whom he loved dearly.