Thomas Papadopoulos will remember April 27, 2025 – St Thomas’ Day – as a day full of joy, love and special family moments.
It was a triple celebration: his and his grandson’s name day, his 68th wedding anniversary with his beloved wife Evmorfia (Foula), and an early Mother’s Day celebration.
“It was such a beautiful day that I can’t find the words to describe it,” Papadopoulos told Neos Kosmos.
Surrounded by his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, he said the day “will remain unforgettable” for everyone.
At the gathering of 17 family members, Papadopoulos gave a flower to each mother to honour Mother’s Day.
When asked to sum up the day in a single word, his response came without hesitation: “Happiness, happiness, and happiness.”
Papadopoulos is a well-known figure within Melbourne’s Greek community.
From the 1960s through to the 1990s, the family-run taverna “Palia Athina” in Footscray – which Papadopoulos ran with his siblings– became a much-loved hub for the Greek diaspora.
Papadopoulos, a self-taught musician, often played his bouzouki not just to entertain but to comfort Greek migrants missing their homeland.
Originally from Aloros in Pella, Greece, he was forced to leave his village during the Greek Civil War and grew up in Thessaloniki.There, he worked for a while in a shop in the Ladadika district before serving in the military in Aridaia – where he met Evmorfia, the woman who would become his wife.
Their love blossomed quickly, and they married in 1957.
Five years later, in 1962, they took the bold step of migrating to Australia to start a new chapter.
They went on to raise two sons, Charalambos (Harry) and Apostolos, and are now proud grandparents of five and great-grandparents of three.
