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.