Nicholas George Grammas

Nicholas George Grammas, age 88, passed away in Eden Prairie, Minnesota on March 27, 2024. He was born in Minneapolis on March 21, 1936, to the late George and Athanasia Grammas.
Nick grew up in Minneapolis and graduated from Central High School in 1954. He attended the University of Minnesota, where he graduated with a degree in chemical engineering in 1958. From 1954 to 1960, he served in the U.S. Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps assigned to military intelligence.
In 1958, Nick was the first engineer hired by Economics Laboratories (now EcoLab) in Saint Paul, where over 20 plus years, he led a team of engineers and oversaw the design and construction of the company's chemical plants, including the plants in Beloit, WI, Woodbridge, NJ, Garland, TX, San Jose, CA, Los Angeles, CA and Joliet, IL.
In 1981, Nick co-founded LaCanasta of Minnesota, a Mexican food products manufacturer in Saint Paul, well-known for bringing restaurant quality corn tortilla chips to the grocery shelves. He designed, built and supervised the plant start-up and eventually took the company public as its Chairman and CEO.
With an entrepreneurial spirit, he participated in several restaurants in the Twin Cities, starting with the Golden Fox Supper Club in the early 1970s, and then moved on to establish popular Mexican restaurants and sports bars.
Nick started and served as the golf tournament chairman of the Children's Heart Fund, now called Children's HeartLink.
Throughout his life, Nick was a fan of Twin Cities sports teams, including the Millers, Twins, Gophers, and of course, the Vikings, being a season ticketholder most of his life dating back to the days of the old Met Center.
Nick loved the Lord. He was a lifelong member of Saint Mary's Greek Orthodox Church in Minneapolis and the Order of AHEPA. He was a past chairman of Saint Mary's Greek Festival, served on the parish counsel for 18 years and held the position of president of the parish counsel. He was proud that during his youth, he served as an altar boy and was asked by Father Anthony to read the epistle lesson in Greek each week.
A very great joy of Nick's was sharing the last 43 years of his life with his wife, Nancy, who survives him. They met at the Golden Fox, during one of the regular performances by an Elvis Presley impersonator.
Nick is survived by three sons, George (Carolynn), Dean (Misty), and Chris (Erin); his stepsons, Kevin (Colleen) and Kyle Supple; and seven grandchildren: Eleanor (Luke) Theobald, and
Nicholas, Sebastian, Hunter, Otto, Lucia and Franklin Grammas. He is also survived by his beloved sisters, Theodora ("Teddy") Petrow and Stamatia ("Tia") Muchulas, with whom he had a special reunion at the last Greek Festival at Saint Mary's, and by cousins, nieces, nephews and other (family) too numerous to list, but each special and deeply loved by Nick.
On Saturday, April 6th a visitation will be held at 10:00 a.m. followed by an 11:00 a.m. funeral service at Saint Mary's Greek Orthodox Church,3450 Irving Avenue South, Minneapolis, Minnesota. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in memory of Nick to Saint Mary's Greek Orthodox Church. May his memory be eternal.