Leo Peter Condakes June 3, 1924 \x{00E2}" December 4, 2009 Leo P. Condakes, of Swampscott, Massachusetts, passed away Friday morning, December 4, surrounded by his wife, Evanthea, and his beloved family. He was 85 years old. Born and bred in Boston Massachusetts, Leo Condakes has never strayed far from his home and his church. The scion of an old Boston Greek-American family, whose patriarch founded Peter Condakes Company, Leo and his brothers, George, John, and James, parlayed their passion for work and their creativity into making their father's small family produce business in Boston into a New England giant. Leo was educated in the Boston public school system, and later took classes at Wentworth Institute, before being drafted into the U. S. Army. Leo's tour of duty in the army extended through the Korean War. Upon his release, Leo carried forward his commitment to citizenship and service, developed in the army, to his life in the church and community-at-large. Upon his discharge from military service, Leo rejoined his father and brothers at Peter Condakes Company. United again, the company grew to be the largest produce wholesaler in New England, along the way notching a few "firsts" for its industry. Among them, the family business was the first produce wholesaler to import product from the rest of the nation and the world. Companion to Leo's prodigious work effort was his faith. A lifelong member of the Annunciation Greek Qrthodox Cathedral of Boston, Leo served on its board of trustees. He also helped expand the church's reach in the Boston area, becoming an active member of five other area Greek Orthodox Churches, and thus solidifying his reputation as one of the church's best known philanthropists. In recognition of his service to the church, Leo became one of the first members of the Archbishop Iakovos Leadership 100, the elite philanthropic strike force, and was a major benefactor of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul. He also served on the Archdiocesan Council, and on the Executive Board of Trustees for Hellenic College-Holy Cross, of Brookline. Appointed as an Archon, Leo attained the highest rank a lay person can hold in his church. In 2003, ever the proud Hellenic American, Leo received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, presented by the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations (NECO). The awards are presented annually in Ellis Island's Great Hall, in tribute to the ancestry groups that comprise America's unique and dynamic cultural mix, to American citizens of diverse origins for their outstanding contributions to their communities, their nation and the world. Patrons of the arts, Leo and his wife are major benefactors of Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, and funded the establishment of its Gallery of East Greek Art, which bears their names. Leo is survived by his Beloved wife, Evanthea (Collatos), six children and their spouses, two sisters and 12 grandchildren. ____________________________________________________________________________ His children are: Stephanie Torski, and her husband Gregory,: Elizabeth Condakes , Peter Condakes, and his wife Pamela, Jacqueline Condakes and her husband Christopher Hubbard, , Nicholas Koskores, and his wife Mary, , and W. Theodore Koskores, and his wife Karen. He also leaves behind two sisters, Alexandra Alphas, and her husband Stephen, and Mary Gomatos of, and his twelve grand children upon whom he showered his unending love and affection.