Our hero, Peter Therianos, peacefully and majestically passed on to the next life in his room at Carrington Court Assisted Living (South Jordan, Utah) on 13 Aug 2018, surrounded by his children and their spouses and a few grandkids.
Pete was born on 25 Mar 1933 in Athens, Greece. He was given the Greek name, Panayiotis. As a child during World War II, he witnessed the occupation of his country by German forces. His father, Emilios, was a casualty of related warfare in 1941, leaving Pete fatherless at age seven. In time, he grew to be a man of action; at age 19 he left his homeland in search of greater opportunity. He spent time in Brazil, but soon realized it wasn’t for him. He returned to Greece to serve in the Greek army, but after completing his military time, he was back on the sea as a crew member on various ships, eventually landing in the United States of America. Although he entered the U.S. as an “undocumented” immigrant, within a decade he learned the language; married Lois Ellen Finlinson from Oak City, Utah; had two children; and became a naturalized U.S. citizen.
Peter met Lois in California. She was living there with her Uncle and Aunt, Oakland and Martha Dutson. After they met, a Greek friend encouraged Peter to marry Lois because of how she impressed him. They married in Los Angeles on 1 Oct 1960. Eventually they had a son in 1961 and a daughter in 1963. They named them Emil and Athena, respectively. While their children were still young, Peter went through the required steps to become a U.S. citizen. Eventually, during the race riots that took place in the 1960s in California, Peter started feeling uneasy about life in the U.S. and decided it was time to look for safer ground. They left California in 1971, after selling their home and nearly everything else they owned and travelled to Pete’s homeland of Greece to start a new life.
Though he started this new life with optimism, there were challenges. For one, his wife and children didn’t know the language. Because English-language schools were prohibitively expensive, he sent his children to Greek schools, where they learned the Greek language, with his help. Economic factors eventually made remaining in Greece unwise. “Now I remember why I left Greece,” he told Lois. After about four years in Greece, they again sold most of what they had, and with some financial help from his mother, they returned to the United States, where he “kissed the ground” upon entering New York. This time, they headed to Lois’ home state. As Peter would say, “We came here with two suitcases” and then worked to establish their household in Utah, where he lived the rest of his life.
In 1979, Peter and Lois had their third child whom they named Angelica, in honor of a special family member, Lois’ aunt: Angie Finlinson Lyman. Around that time, after only a few short years in Utah, Lois was diagnosed with liver cancer, most likely caused by “Downwinders Syndrome” resulting from nuclear testing in the U.S. during the 1950s and 60s. Doctors didn’t give her long to live, but she lived about 14 months after being diagnosed; Peter lost the mother of his children on 17 Sep 1980.
With a new baby to raise and his oldest children grown and leaving home, Peter continued to work while raising his youngest daughter alone. After she was grown, he lived the rest of his life alone in the brand new house in Granger (now West Valley City) that he and Lois had bought together. Eventually, in his old age, a brain tumor made it necessary to move to an assisted living facility, which he enjoyed for the last weeks of his life.
Over the years, Peter taught his children valuable life lessons through example and his words. “Don’t follow the crowd” are words Emil heard many times and lives by. Angelica remembers that he taught her to be optimistic, no matter the challenges and to treat others better than they treat you. He also taught her to rely on and trust in God. His trust in God was an influential example for each of his children.
Pete always enjoyed technical work, both in mechanical and electrical fields. He was proudest of his various accomplishments in modifying industrial equipment to improve its performance and reliability. He began his journey in technical work at ship docks in Greece. After coming to the U.S. and receiving training in heavy equipment maintenance, he worked in various factories as an industrial maintenance technician. In his early years in the U.S. he lived and worked in California. His favorite job there was at International Rectifier, in a factory that produced semiconductor devices. His careful study and modifications of sand blaster units used in production processes drastically improved their reliability.
After moving his family to Greece and then to Utah, Pete happened upon a few jobs in Salt Lake’s medical equipment production industry. As was typical, his technical expertise and careful troubleshooting of problems led him to modify ultrasonic units that welded plastic items together; his modifications improved the durability of the ultrasonic welders.
Shortly after an industrial accident that burned his face and hands, he retired and spent much of his time working on his home, and of course much of that was technical in nature. He also returned to the seas, enjoying several cruises to various destinations, but now being served as a passenger.
Peter, who lived a full life of 85 years, will be forever etched into the minds of those he leaves behind: Olga (sister), Jayne (longtime friend), Emil & Kathy (son & wife), Athena & Roy (daughter & husband), Angelica & Andrew (daughter & husband); grandchildren: Ashly (Kory), Joy (Mike), Noah, Elaina, Tegan, StaciRae, Brinnlie, Braden, Briasen, Christiana, Matthew; great-grandchildren: Colten, Merrick, Sarah, Brad, Kaily, Ryker, Skyly.
Others who passed on before him: parents – Emilios and Irene, half-brother – Vlassios, wife – Lois, daughter-in-law – Jenna, great-grandsons – Kaden & Jaden.
Funeral services will be held on Monday, 20 Aug, at the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox church, 279 S 300 W in Salt Lake City. Viewing will be at 10 am and the funeral at 11. A graveside service will be held the following Saturday, 25 Aug, at 3 pm at the Oak City, Utah cemetery.
Dedication of grave is 3:00 p.m.Saturday August 25, 2018 at Oak City Cemetery.
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