NEW YORK  – Nikos Mihalios, businessman and former president of the Chian Federation, has passed away at the age of 85.

He was one of the major benefactors of the Chian Federation, who contributed to the purchase of the Broadway building in Astoria, but also to the construction of St. Markella’s Chapel in Upstate New York. Mihalios was the only former president who has been honored, to this date, with the Homeric Award, the federation’s top distinction.

Mihalios was born in Kampia, Chios in 1937. He was the eldest son of Georgios and Paraskevi Mihalios. He also had two brothers, John, Kostas (d. 1952) and Dimitris.

With the German occupation unfolding during the early years of his life, his family, like many other islanders of the time, were driven into exile, returning to the island a few years later, after liberation. In 1955, at the age of 18, Mihalios left Greece with his parents for America.

During his early days in New York, he worked hard and in 1980 he started his first business venture, as a builder, with the company Malba Estates Inc. Later on, his professional activity moved to the real estate market, where he made a name for himself and won over everyone with his consistency and quality of service.

At the same time, he was also a devoted family man, as with his wife, Ekaterini, they had two children, Paraskevi and George, who pursued their own careers in architecture and law, respectively.

During the ceremony when he received the 40th Homeric Award, in 2019, which took place in the presence of a great number of officials – the last mass event at the Chian Federation before the outbreak of the pandemic – he himself had spoken with particular pride about the acquisition and subsequent maintenance of “Chios House.”

“This building was part of my life for me. It was very exciting that we could acquire it 40 years ago. We spent $550,000 to fix it and $230,000 to buy it. Today it is paid off, we don’t owe anyone a penny,” he had told The National Herald at that time.

It should be noted that Mihalios was also active in the church and was a member of the Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.