Vasilios Kales

Vasilios Kales, 83, of Livingston, N.J., passed away on November 23, 2023 after a hard-fought battle with cancer.
Relatives and friends are invited for visitation on Tuesday from 3 pm through 6 pm in the Shook-Farmer Funeral Home, 45 Roseland Avenue, Roseland, NJ 07068, shookfarmer.com. A Funeral Ceremony will be offered at 5:15 pm in the funeral home. Interment will be private.
Born and raised in Athens, Greece during WWII, he had to grow up quickly and learn that hard work, and caring for the ones you love are the most important things. He went to work at the age of 9 years old to provide for his widowed mother and his sister, and learned wood working skills from his uncle. He joined the Greek Merchant Marines as a young adult and was trained as an Engineer. Traveling the world delivering goods, he eventually decided to immigrate to the United States in his early 20's. With little money, and a basic knowledge of the English language, he worked in restaurants doing what it took to survive. In time he secured a job in construction, and was able to move from Manhattan to West Orange where he purchased his first home and lived for many years, eventually settling in Livingston.
Prior to his retirement, he was a general contractor and owner of Technique Renovations in Livingston. In his spare time, he enjoyed gardening, golfing, cooking, and traveling. A true fisherman at heart, he took trips down to Belmar for deep sea fishing and maintained a Koi pond at his home. An excellent cook, he loved to make wine, homemade sopressata, tomato sauce, and so much more. The real joy in his life was doing for the ones he loved. He was a skilled carpenter who seemed to know how to do anything, and he worked well into his 70's renovating the homes of his closest family members. At 75 he did a complete demolition of his daughter's master bathroom. Above all, he cherished the time spent with family, especially his grandchildren.
He is Predeceased by his parents, Anestis Kales and Dialekti Vouzianis and his sister, Panagiota Vekris.
He is survived by his beloved partner Diane Manno; loving daughters, Patricia Seugling, and her husband, Paul, Katerina Kales, and Kimberly Weinrich, and her husband, James Francaviglia; cherished grandchildren, Antonia, Sofia, Lucas, and Ella; nephew, Lambros Vekris and his family; and dearest friends, Theodora and Nikolaos Leriou.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his memory to the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, mskcc.org.