Christos Spiros "Chris" Theodorou

1955 - 2018

(News story) Christos Spiros "Chris" Theodorou, a heating and air conditioning specialist who took over the family business his father-in-law started and became a leader in his Greek Orthodox church community, died Tuesday in Hospice of Northwest Ohio, South Detroit Avenue. He was 62.

He had leukemia, his daughter, Jan Bollin, said. He was president of Maumee Valley Heating & Air Conditioning Inc. and went into work until about four weeks ago.

"He fought real hard for 15 months," his daughter said. "It was a super aggressive form, and they never really gave us a lot of hope, but he kept fighting until the very end."

He was born Dec. 8, 1955, in Alea, Greece, to Demetra and Spiros Theodorou. As he and a sister reached middle-school age, they lived in Nemea, Greece, hours away from the family's village, in order to continue their education. He was 14 when the family emigrated, settling in Toledo, where relatives lived.

"They came for a better life," his daughter said. "He took to it well."

He learned English from school and neighborhood friends he made.

"He just jumped feet first into the American lifestyle," his daughter said.

Mr. Theodorou was a 1974 graduate of Start High School and delivered drywall before he and a cousin operated a carryout at Hawley Street and Western Avenue.

In 1982, Frederick Slates, his father-in-law and the founder of Maumee Valley Heating, needed help in a hurry when two workers left. Mr. Theodorou rode with Mr. Slates on service calls and learned how to fix furnaces and air conditioning and fold metal for ductwork.

The trade suited him so well that he sold his interest in the carryout.

"He liked working with his hands and meeting new people, and the job allowed him to do both," said his son, Spiros Theodorou, office manager and vice president of Maumee Valley Heating.

His daughter said: "He's always been a helper."

In 1995, Mr. Theodorou acquired the business, which now employs about 12, his son said. For nearly a decade as heating season approached, Maumee Valley Heating donated at least two furnaces - which it installed at no charge - to families nominated as deserving in a promotion run by radio station WRVF, 101.5-FM, The River.

"He would always say he felt like Toledo had given him so much that it was a way of giving back," his son said.

Mr. Theodorou and his family were members of Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral in North Toledo since their arrival in town. As they acclimated to a new society, they drew on the church community.

"It was the one place they could go and they didn't have to worry about any cultural barriers," said Randy Bollin, his son-in-law. "They could have questions without any apprehensions."

Mr. Theodorou was president of the parish council for 18 years and for 27 years was co-chairman of Holy Trinity's annual Greek American Festival.

He and Patricia Slates married June 26, 1976. The marriage ended in 1980.

"They said they were young, and they had just had me," their daughter said. "Mom said she always knew they loved each other and were going to be together."

They remarried April 24, 1982, but considered last year as marking their 41st wedding anniversary. They skipped those years apart, their daughter said, and celebrated from their first marriage date.

Surviving are his wife, Patti; daughter, January Bollin; son, Spiros; mother, Demetra; brothers, George and Pete; sisters, Kalliroi Elias, Elaine Dobias, and Anna Theodorou, and four grandchildren.

Visitation will be from 2 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Ansberg-West Funeral Home, with a Trisagion service at 7 p.m. Funeral services will be at 9:30 a.m. Friday at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral.

The family suggests tributes to Holy Trinity cathedral, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, or Hospice of Northwest Ohio.

This is a news story by Mark Zaborney. Contact him at mzaborney@theblade.com or 419-724-6182.