The AHEPAN Fall 2020 - 43

IN MEMORIAM

1957-1959. From 1969 to 1983, he was the head football coach at
the University of Rochester where he was the Section I Coach of the
Year in 1970. Stark was inducted into the Syracuse Hall of Fame in
1995 and into the University of Rochester Hall of Fame.

AHI Founder, AHEPA Hellenic
Athletic Hall of Famer Rossides
Supreme President George G. Horiates issued a statement on the
passing of Eugene T. Rossides, founder of the American Hellenic
Institute, who died May 16, 2020. He was 92.
"The members of the American Hellenic Educational
Progressive Association deeply mourn the passing of AHEPA Life
Member Eugene T. Rossides, a champion of the rule of law, an
upstanding public servant, and standout athlete.
Brother Rossides will be missed tremendously by the many
lives he touched and inspired
worldwide through a lifetime of
unwavering service and extraordinary leadership in the pursuit
of excellence and justice. A proud
American and passionate Hellene,
Brother Rossides' legacy will live
on through the American Hellenic
Institute and the AHI-affiliated
organizations he founded and
led in support of the rule of law,
Hellenism, and the Cyprus cause;
and furthermore, for spearheading the effort that led to a U.S.
arms embargo on Turkey following Turkey's illegal invasion of
the Republic of Cyprus in 1974.
We are immensely proud to have called Eugene Rossides a
Brother Ahepan since 1954. Throughout his life, he exemplified
and fulfilled the mission of AHEPA to the utmost. A man of integrity, Brother Rossides will be remembered fondly as a pillar of the
community and with reverence.
"Our deepest sympathies and prayers are with the Rossides
family. May his memory be eternal."
Brother Rossides, a life member of Delphi Chapter 25,
Manhattan, N.Y., received the 2000 AHEPA-Archbishop Iakovos
Humanitarian Award, which honors those who dedicate themselves to the betterment of human and civil rights and religious
freedoms for people suffering under tyranny and oppression.
In 1989, he received induction into the AHEPA Hellenic
Athletic Hall of Fame for starring at Columbia University as a
quarterback in the 1940s prior to being drafted by the New York
Giants. He also became the first recipient of the AHEPA-Stamos
Family Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014 for achievements
and contributions to society during his post-athletic career.

www.ahepa.org

Pericles Award Recipient, Civil
Rights Icon U.S. Rep. Lewis
Supreme President George G. Horiates issued a statement on the
passing of Civil Rights Icon, U.S. Representative John Lewis, a recipient of the AHEPA Pericles Award:
"Ahepans mourn the passing of U.S. Representative John Lewis,
an Icon of the Civil Rights Movement.
"Congressman Lewis dedicated a lifetime of service to America
as a champion for Civil Rights, human rights, and equality. He
served as an inspiration to generations of Americans for his moral
courage and strong conviction that there is 'not any room in our
society for discrimination based on race, or color, or faith, or what
part of the world you may come from.'
"We recall with great appreciation and fondness his acceptance
remarks to our audience, 'When Dr. Martin Luther King issued a
call, members of your church responded, and we will never forget it.
And fifty years later you came to Selma to walk with us. Thank you.'
"It is our society that is thankful to John Lewis for his lasting
commitment to service and justice through nonviolence, which has
made America a more perfect Union.
"Our deepest sympathies and prayers are with the Lewis family.
May his memory be eternal."
In 2015, AHEPA presented Congressman Lewis with the AHEPA
Pericles Award and a custom-framed copy of the historic March 26,
1965 issue of Life Magazine "Memorial at Selma" with Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr. and His Eminence Archbishop Iakovos on the cover
at the 41st Biennial Congressional Banquet held at the Willard
Intercontinental Hotel, Washington, DC. The inscription written
on the frame stated in part, "In Commemoration of the Unity of
the African American and Greek Communities." Lewis sustained
severe injuries from the beatings he received as a participant in the
"Bloody Sunday" voting rights march on March 7, 1965.
Congressman Lewis was a member of the Congressional Caucus
on Hellenic Issues.

Fall 2020 · THE AHEPAN | 43

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The AHEPAN Fall 2020

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