George Frederick Stelioes
George Frederick Stelioes, 94, died on Dec. 27, 2017, in Mexico, at the Veteran’s Home, where he spent the last month of his life.
He is survived by his loving wife of 58 years, Viola Stelioes, his daughter and son-in-law, Anne Frances and Alexander Stelioes-Wills, and his nephew Erich Patrawke. He had four grandchildren, Leander, Linden, Lucy, and Kyndle.
George was born to Frances and Spiros Stelioes on June 25, 1923, in Halfway, Mich. He grew up in rural Missouri and joined the Army in 1942 where he served three years in the South Pacific. He was honorably discharged in 1945, at the conclusion of WWII. After his military service, George attended Indiana University, and graduated with a BA from Butler University in Indiana. George completed his Master’s Degree in counseling in 1959 at the University of Wyoming in Laramie.
George moved to Alaska in 1958. He was hired by the Anchorage School District as a physical education teacher and school counselor. While teaching in Anchorage, he met his future wife, Viola Patrawke, who was also a teacher in the Anchorage school district. They were married on Aug. 18, 1958 – Alaska’s statehood year. They had their daughter, Anne Frances, in 1969.
George pursued his varied interests during the summer months. He was a big-game hunter and guide, raised and showed Arabian horses, and ran a side business with Viola building custom homes. During the school year, George coached various sports including skiing and basketball, but his primary coaching contribution was in getting hockey accepted in the school district as a major sport. George retired from the Anchorage School District in 1978. George, his wife, and daughter, then purchased a farm in Louisiana, where they continued to raise and show his beloved Arabian horses. Viola’s nephew Erich became part of the family and part of the farm in 1980. Even though he had retired from teaching, George was not ready to give up coaching and having a positive influence on young lives, however, and he continued to coach football and track in Bowling Green. Many years after his retirement from Bowling Green, former students would see him on the street and refer to him as “Coach!”
George always valued education, and continued educating himself throughout his life. Because he had gone on to earn his counseling degree, he was able to accept a position in remote native villages in “the bush” of Alaska. Erich had gone on to college, so George, Viola, and Anne Frances went back to Alaska, where George was able to continue helping people by counseling the youth who were having trouble with substance abuse. In addition, after coming back to the farm in Louisiana, MO, George continued counseling professionally for five years in Mexico, and Quincy as a LCSW (Licensed Clinical Social Worker). When George finally retired from teaching and counseling, he continued for the rest of his life in his love of farming, on the family farm in Louisiana. He raised horses, cows, crops, and native grasses, and enjoyed passing his knowledge on to his children and grandchildren.
George will be greatly missed by his loving family and many friends for his warmth, his contagious sense of humor, and his wide knowledge of so many experiences in life.
George requested that upon his death, there should be no public funeral or visitation. There was a private service with the Rev. Pat Glenn officiating held on Jan. 2, 2018. The pallbearers were Erich Patrawke, Alex Stelioes-Wills, Wendell Jennings, Richard Boots, Dr. Edward Glenn, Pat Finder, Ansel Niemeyer, and Danny Portwood. George was buried with military honors at Jordan-Buffalo Cemetery. Memorials may be sent in honor of George to the Missouri Veteran’s Home in Mexico, MO, c/o Collier Funeral Homes, Inc., 117 Barnard Dr., Louisiana, MO, 63353.
