Konstantine Spyridon Papadimitriou

Konstantine (Kosta) S. Papadimitriou, 96, passed away peacefully on October 15, 2022 at his home in Chesapeake, Virginia. Born in Athens Greece on November 9, 1925, he was the son of Spyridon Papadimitriou of Krikellon, Greece and Artemisia Alexandropoulou of Athens, Greece.

During the German occupation of Greece (1941-1944), while in high school, two events marked his young life: the death of his father General Spyridon Papadimitriou and his joining the underground resistance against the occupation forces. After the liberation of Greece, he attended and graduated from the Greek Military Academy in 1947 as 2nd Infantry Lieutenant and served in various posts as a training instructor. After his promotion to 1st Lieutenant, he served as Company Commander at the 552 Infantry Battalion. He fought in the Greek Civil War against the communist forces and took part in many battles.

For his actions in the wars, he was awarded the highest medal offered by Greece, the Gold Medal of Valor, as well as the War Cross, the Medal of Distinguished Military Services and the Medal of National Resistance. At the end of the war, he was transferred to the Corps of Engineers, promoted to Captain in 1950, and served in various engineering units.

In addition to the Military Academy, he attended the Engineering School for Regular Officers, the USAREUR Engineering School in Germany, the Advanced Civil Engineering Military School (BS Degree), and the Army School of Foreign Languages.

In 1952, he met and fell in love with Mary Lazanas, a Greek American CIA officer at the US Embassy in Athens. They were married in 1955, with the agreement that they would both leave behind their current careers and travel the world. They made their new home in the United States, where Kosta got his MS Degree in Structural Engineering from the University of Illinois Graduate School. In 1960, he became a US citizen.

For the next quarter century, he worked as Chief Engineer for various companies and government agencies that took him and his family all over the world, including Greece, Saudi Arabia, and Iran. In the 1970’s, he worked for Lockheed Aircraft International in Saudi Arabia, where he was the project manager for the construction of “Lockheed City,” which housed hundreds of Lockheed employees working in the Kingdom. In 1977, he earned an MBA from Columbia University. Before retirement, he was Director of Facilities, Engineering, and Services for Lockheed in Saudi Arabia and Director of Facilities at Lockheed Georgia Company.

Kosta was able to enjoy more than 30 years of retirement, guiding his children and grandchildren along their own paths, enjoying the company of good friends, traveling, playing bridge, and working diligently on his stamp collection. During his lifetime, Kosta and Mary have lived in or visited over 62 countries, but he never stopped being a true son of Greece, his beloved homeland, and a soldier and patriot to the very end. He instilled his cultural values and importance of education and hard work in his children and grandchildren, as a role model and as a devoted “babaka” and “papou.”

He is survived by his beloved wife of 67 years, Mary, his 4 children Spyro, Alex (Linda), Jon (Niki), and Marianna (Craig), 8 grandchildren, and numerous cousins, nieces, nephews, and good friends.

The family, respecting his wishes, requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to St. Jude Children’s Hospital, P.O. Box 50, Memphis, TN 38101

A visitation will be held on Saturday, October 22, 2022 5:00- 7:00 PM at Roswell Funeral Home 950 Mansell Road Roswell, Georgia 30076. Funeral Services will be held at Holy Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church 3431 Trickum Road NE Marietta, Georgia 30066 on Sunday, October 23, 2022 at 1:00 PM followed by a burial at Green Lawn Cemetery and Mausoleum 950 Mansell Road Roswell, Georgia 30076.