Nicholas Andrew Natsios

He was born in Lowell on July 31, 1920, son of the late Andrew N. and Fotini (Parapanisiou) Natsios. Mr. Natsios was a member of the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Lowell. He graduated from the Lowell Hellenic American Day School and from Lowell High School in 1939.

Mr. Natsios graduated with honors from Ohio State University in 1948 and received a master's degree in law and diplomacy at the Tufts Fletcher School of (International) Law and Diplomacy.

His college education was interrupted when he enlisted in World War II after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. After entering the U.S. Army as a private he quickly rose through the ranks of military espionage. He served in North Africa and Italy, and was appointed as a captain in military intelligence. He was a specialist in counter espionage and participated in numerous operations to thwart German efforts in the Mediterranean.

After graduating from college, he began a long career in the fledgling CIA that would take him around the globe. Including his military service, Mr. Natsios spent 29 years in overseas assignments. He often was the chief of station, the top intelligence officer assigned in his many U.S. missions abroad, which included Greece, Vietnam, France, Korea, Argentina, The Netherlands and Iran.

He received numerous awards and decorations from the U.S. and Allied governments, which included the U.S. Intelligence Medal of Merit, the Bronze Star, the Cross of Military Valor, and the Cross of Military Merit of Italy, Knight Commander of the Order of the Crown of Italy, Knight Commander of the Order of St. George, the Distinguished Service Cross 1st Class of the Knights of Malta, the Distinguished Service Medal of Greece, the Order of Service Merit of Korea, and the Ellis Island Medal of Honor. Mr. Natsios had been listed in the Marquis Who's Who in America for the last 45 years and the Marquis Who's Who in the World.

Mr. Natsios was a member of the Lowell Holy Trinity Hellenic Orthodox Church, and was chairman of the Steering Committee that built the Hellenic Cultural Center in Lowell. He was also a founding member of the Lowell Hellenic Cultural Society, serving on its board and two terms as president. He was also a charter member of both the Library of Congress Foundation as well as the World War II Memorial Foundation, the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, and the Dean's Circle of the Ohio State University Alumni Association.

Besides his wife, he is survived by four daughters and three sons-in-law, Christine D. Natsios of Columbus, Ohio, Deborah A. Natsios and her husband John Young of New York City, Valerie S. Natsios-Mundell, who resides in New York City and Siena, Italy, with her husband, Robert Alexander Mundell, an economics professor at Columbia University and a Nobel Prize laureate, Alexandra R. Natsios and her husband Kleon C. Andreadis; three grandchildren, Brian J. Barton of Columbus, Ohio, Allegra Andreadis-Natsios of New York and Nicholas Robert Mundell of New York City and Sienna, Italy; a great-granddaughter, Kayla S. Barton of Columbus, Ohio. He also leaves a brother and sister-in-law, James A. Natsios and his wife Maria of Atlanta; a sister and brother-in-law, Alexandra Stamoulis and her husband George of Boston's West Roxbury.

Mr. Natsios is also survived by numerous nieces and nephews, including Andrew S. Natsios, former chairman of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority and currently the administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development in Washington, D.C., Dr. Peter Natsios of Portland, Ore., Lt. Col. Philip Natsios of Sterling, Va., Andrea Natsios of Waltham, and Elaine (Natsios) Patsourakos of Billerica, director of Social Services at Waltham Crossing; and three sisters-in-law, Eta Natsios, widow of Basil, Bessie Natsios, widow of George, and Pat Natsios, widow of Evangelos.