Theodore S Syrmos

Theodore S. Syrmos, 88, of Portsmouth died Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009.

Born June 5, 1920, in Somersworth and raised in Lowell, Mass., he was the son of the late Stavros Dimitri Syrmopoulos and Antonia (Happas) Syrmopoulos.

Mr. Syrmos graduated from Lowell High School, class of 1939. He attended and graduated from Burdett College and Suffolk University with a bachelor's degree in accounting. He served in the U.S. Army Air Corp during World War II in the European Theater.

He was predeceased by his wife of 55 years, Alice G. (Scliris) Syrmos, and his brother, Demosthenes S. Syrmopoulos of Cohasset, Mass.

Survivors include his son and daughter-in-law, Steven and Julie Syrmopoulos of Tempe, Az.; his daughter, Toni Syrmopoulos and her partner John Herrmann of Merrimack; two sisters, Georgia Soteropoulos of Athens, Greece, and Fotine Syrmopoulos of Kingston, Mass; six grandchildren, Aaron, Jason, Alisha, Katelyn, Benjamin and Derek; four great-grandchildren, Isaiah, Nathaniel, Damon and Aja; and several nieces and nephews and their children.

WE REMEMBER: Ted was a member of the American Legion and received an Auxiliary for Americanism in Action recognition award from VFW Post #168. He was active in the Alpha Epsilon Phi fraternity, a scholastic society of college graduates of Hellenic-American ancestry. He was a member of the American Hellenic Educational Association since 1952 and served as president of the Portsmouth Chapter 215. He also served as president of the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church parish council. Ted joined the Portsmouth Lions Club in 1956 and was an active member for many years. He was the first Lions Club member ever to be elected president for two consecutive terms from 1964 through 1966. He was recipient of the Melvin Jones Fellow Award for dedicated humanitarian services from Lions Clubs International Foundation, awarded in recognition of his ongoing commitment to the global community, and in 1988 Ted received the Lion of the Year Award for outstanding service, loyalty and devotion to Lionism. Ted served with distinction in the Grand People Project in the Portsmouth school system beginning in 1984, working on the Advisory Council for Retired Senior Volunteers Program. In this capacity he assisted in teaching math to fourth-graders at the New Franklin School in Portsmouth for 16 years.

As a former businessman, he owned and operated Ted's Coffee Shop on Congress Street for nine years until 1961. He then joined the Prudential Insurance Company of America in July of 1961 and served as the division manager of Prudential's Dover Ordinary Agency. He was the proud recipient of the Prudential Academy of Honor Award and was also a member of the National Academy of Life Underwriters. Ted retired from Prudential in 1982 after 21 years of service.

Charles P Gaffney Jr

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

Corporal Charles P. Gaffney Jr., 42, of Phoenix, Arizona, died December 24, 2008, in Paktika, Afghanistan, when his combat outpost received enemy rocket fire. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

Before Corporal Charles P. Gaffney Jr. was a soldier bravely holding the line in Iraq and Afghanistan, he was a Tucsonan who loved riding his motorcycle up and down the Catalina Highway.

He was a mechanic at several Midtown auto shops.

He was a doting father to twin 4-year-old girls.

And he was a man who believed in fighting the good fight, making the world a safer place and helping the oppressed.

It's why the highly decorated soldier signed up again a few years ago, after an earlier tour in Iraq. He was then sent to Afghanistan, where enemy fire took his life on Christmas Eve.

The 42-year-old infantryman was in Paktika, Afghanistan, when his combat outpost came under enemy rocket fire, according to the Department of Defense press release on the attack.

Gaffney was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

He is the 38th service member with ties to Tucson and Southern Arizona to be claimed by the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Gaffney was the seventh service member to be killed in 2008.

Gaffney and his family moved to Tucson in the late '70s, his father said Wednesday. Gaffney joined the Army in the mid-'80s. He served about six years, spending most of that time in Germany, and then returned to Tucson. He worked at several auto shops along Speedway that have since closed, his father said, and he moved to Las Vegas after a while and worked for a Porsche dealership there.

Meanwhile, his parents moved to Phoenix and Gaffney moved there, too, several years ago. That's when he decided he needed to serve his country again, Charles P. Gaffney Sr. said.

"I won't say I was upset he was going back, but I didn't want him to," his father said. "He told me it was for people's rights around the world, for them to say what they want to say without other people beating them down. And he said he never wanted anyone to come here to the United States and tell his daughters that they had to do things a certain way.
"And then I couldn't argue with him."

Gaffney went to Iraq in 2006-07 and was part of security forces outside Baghdad, his father said. He joined up again and was sent to Afghanistan in October.

"He said, 'I'm going back again.' He said, 'It has to be taken care of.'"

Hank Savko, a family friend, also remembers the younger man talking about his resolve.

"He had said, 'I'm not doing it for myself. I'm doing it for the women of Afghanistan.' We kind of looked at him and said, 'Why?' He said the women of Afghanistan are so mistreated, they're not really people like we are in this country. He said, 'I'm doing it for them.'"

Gaffney earned numerous accolades for his service, including the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal, the National Defense Service Medal and two Global War on Terrorism Service Medals. He also was awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart, his father said, for his recent service.

Demosthenes G Kyreages

Demosthenes G. Kyreages, 88, formerly of Fairview Avenue, passed away on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2008, at the Durgin Pines Nursing Home in Kittery, Maine.

Demo was born on June 9, 1920, in Dover, the son of late George and late Anna (Vitsoulis) Kyreages. He owned and operated Demo's barbershop in Dover. He loved his customers and was a kind gentleman.

He is survived by his brothers, Charles Kyreages and his wife, Nellie, of Myrtle Beach, S.C., Clarence and his wife, Phyllis, of Dover, Paul and his wife, Doris, of Dover and Elias and his wife, Janet, of York Harbor, Maine; his sister, Angeline Edmunds of New Mexico; and several loving nieces and nephews.

He was predeceased by his wife, Anna, and his sister, Ethel Switzer.