Greek family reflects on move to America
The newspaper article that ran in The New York Times 30 years ago about the Kapelonis family, with Christos and Joanna Kapelonis in the background
Joanna Kapelonis with a photo of her and Christos
Christos Kapelonis, top left, daughter Helene Semanderes and Joanna Kapelonis; bottom row, from left, son Nick Kapelonis, and daughters Anastasia Kapelonis and Chrisoula Adelianakis at the family home
Christos Kapelonis with daughter Anastasia
Helene Semanderes, left, and sister Chrisoula Adelianakis share stories about life as Greek immigrants.
The Kapelonis grandchildren gathered for a family photo. Standing, from left, are Nikoli Semanderes, Agape Kapelonis, Cleopatra Adelianakis, Erene Semanderes and Anthony Adelianakis. Seated, are Christos Kapelonis, grandmother Joanna Kapelonis, grandfather Christos Kapelonis and Christos Semanderes.
On June 18, 1979, Christos and Joanna Kapelonis were featured in the leisure section of The New York Times as they prepared for the high school graduation of their oldest child, Helene.
For the couple, who had immigrated to New York City from Greece 11 years earlier, watching their daughter receive her diploma – neither of them attended school past sixth grade – was one of the best moments of their lives.
Nearly 38 years later, the Kapelonises, surrounded by their four children in the couple’s Chartiers Township home, reflected on the decision to leave their homeland and how the United States provided opportunities for the family to live the American dream.
“God bless America,” said Christos Kapelonis, now 86. “We have been very blessed here.”
Helene Semanderes, of North Strabane Township, went on to graduate from New York University, and the Kapelonises have watched with pride as their other children, Chrisoula Adelianakis, the former owner of Mr. Gyros in Washington; Nick Kapelonis of Canonsburg, a former stockbroker, and Anastasia Kapelonis, a peer mentor for SPHS Care Center, found personal and professional success. Now, the Kapelonises enjoy watching their seven grandchildren find their place in America.
“My parents came to the United States because they saw a better future for their children here than they would have had in Greece. They came here for their children, not for themselves,” said Semanderes. “They made sacrifices, and they were always thinking about their family.”
The family recalled how Christos and Joanna, who spoke no English, arrived in the Bronx with Helene and Chrisoula, and moved into a small, fifth-floor apartment nine blocks from Yankee Stadium.
Adjusting to their new life wasn’t easy.
Christos worked three jobs and was away for as long as 16 hours a day, while Joanna, who rarely left the apartment, took care of the children. Nick recalled his mother once went to the store to buy tuna fish but picked up cat food.
Later, the family moved to a second-floor apartment in a Greek neighborhood in Astoria, where Christos managed a fruit store.
For the first time, Joanna could shop at a Greek grocery and butcher shop. She later worked at Titan Foods, a Greek specialty food store, taking the Long Island railroad 45 minutes each way, often returning home with bags full of olive oil.
The family embraced life in America, but Christos and Joanna taught their children the Greek language, customs and culture.
They attended Greek Orthodox church and events at the Cretan Club, where they learned Greek dances and songs, and played native instruments.
“Language and customs are important to Greek families. There wasn’t a weekend where my parents didn’t take us to a Greek christening, wedding or a dance,” said Anastasia. “Our lives were beautiful, full of our ethnicity. It was God first, then family, then friends.”
Every summer, Christos and Joanna sent the girls to Crete to visit their grandparents and cousins. In later years, the couple could afford to travel to Greece during summer months.
In 1988, Christos and Joanna, who had moved into a house on Long Island, visited Southwestern Pennsylvania to attend Helene’s wedding, and the green, rolling hills appealed to them.
They moved to Washington County in 1991, and the rest of the close-knit family followed.
“Dad wanted to feel like he was back in his village, so we brought some goats and hens and rabbits that roamed on my property,” said Semanderes. “We had a little farm going there. Dad reminisced about his life back home, and we made our own cheese, had fresh eggs and other produce.”
Christos – who tended cemetery gardens in Athens – grows a vegetable garden at his house, with the help of his children. Joanna, 74, used to walk three to four miles a day searching for dandelions and herbs that she used for recipes and remedies.
Her children later found out that Joanna would visit local nursing homes and hospitals in Pittsburgh to drop off Greek food and pray with the old and sick.
Christos and Joanna have been married for 56 years, and the Kapelonis children are grateful for their parents’ selflessness and dedication to their family and each other.
Christos often makes up mantinades – Greek rhyming poems – declaring his love and affection for Joanna.
“My dad and mom would not be who they are without each other. They show so much love, they gave us so much love, and they have so much love that they give to other people,” said Anastasia. In our family, it is God first, then family, then friends.”
The Kapelonis home is filled wth pictures of the family – Christos and Joanna’s wedding picture, and framed photos of the children and grandchildren.
“Ask me how much money I have in all these years. I have $7 billion because I have seven grandchildren,” said Joanna, her eyes filling with tears. “I love my family.”
Semanderes said her family’s commitment to their Greek heritage has enriched the lives of her children and her siblings’ children, who also speak fluent Greek.
“We acclimated well with the culture of America, but we also at the same time have our culture, and you know what, that made my kids a lot more flexible, a lot more intelligent when it came to school. I think it was a good start,” said Semanderes.
The siblings said they don’t know what their lives would have been like in Greece, which has suffered economic difficultires, and noted how the United States is divided on immigration today.
“I still think people are biased toward immigrants, but at the same time, they should do their research and they should go to Ellis Island and take a look and see who built this country,” said Nick Kapelonis. “It was the people who came over from Greece, from Italy, from various other countries who laid the foundation. We’re very proud of it.”
Christos believes all of the work, hardships and struggles he and Joanna faced while building their life in America was worth it.
“I’m happy we made that decision,” said Christos. “I don’t regret it because it worked out.”