Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to honour my friend of 40 years and local constituent John Patsikatheodorou, otherwise known as Patsi, who left us suddenly, aged 66, on 4 June 2018. A community activist and pioneer of many multicultural services, John was born on 10 May 1952 in Livadi, Ellasona, in Greece. He often boasted that he came from the land of the gods, Mount Olympus, and that 'theodorou' in his surname meant he was God's gift—here on this earth for a higher purpose.

His is a migrant story. He arrived in Australia in 1963 where, nine years later, he completed his higher school certificate at Melbourne boys' high. He had a passion for maths and science and enrolled in biological sciences at La Trobe University, where he became active in student and multicultural issues. He found his calling, however, when Cyclone Tracy struck during Christmas of 1974. He was employed as a bilingual welfare worker with the Department of Social Security, assisting with the resettlement of Greeks from Darwin in 1975 and 1976. John was so impacted by this work that he felt that resettling the displaced Greek community was more important than going to university. And so it was that this would be his passion and life's work, touching and impacting on thousands of migrants' welfare and settlement needs.

Between 1985 and 2003, John served as director of two migrant resource centres, Broadmeadows Migrant Resource Centre and the Inner Western Region Migrant Resource Centre in Footscray, and in 1991 he was appointed a justice of the peace for Victoria. He helped form a number of community organisations and served on various boards, including Western Healthcare, Western English Language Centre, the Broadmeadows employment project, 98.9 North West FM, the Settlement Services Advisory Council, the Broadmeadows Multicultural Early Learning Centre, the Greek Orthodox Community of Broadmeadows and Districts, and Brite Services. Even this extensive list is not exhaustive of his involvement in the community.

John was a dedicated activist but also a happy man who was renowned for his cheeky sense of humour and his passion for Greek music and dancing. When his wife, Helen, became the mayor of the Hume City Council on two occasions, he was happy to be referred to as 'lady mayoress' and gladly attended all events with her. He also called himself 'the bag man', as he carried Helen's handbag while she performed her official duties.

John is survived by the love of his life and his soulmate, Helen; three sons whom he deeply loved and admired and was proud of, Dimitri, Stratos and Nikolas; and his soon-to-be daughter-in-law, Dimitra. John was a wonderful man, the best comrade and a friend of 40 years. He was inexhaustibly active in our community, and the work that he did for the Calwell electorate was monumental and will be sorely missed. Many local battles were fought, and he relished the challenge of advocacy and took pride in getting results. The world is a sadder place with the loss of this wonderful person. Our local community has lost a stalwart, and we in the Labor family have lost a cherished comrade.