I want to take a moment to remember a friend of mine who passed away last night. Andy Athens was a civic institution in Chicago. He was a brilliant business leader. He was also ``the Dean'' of the Greek American community--a founder and former president and the cofounder of the National Coordinated Effort of Hellenes. We are so grateful that when Andy's father left Greece in 1904 he came to Chicago. With his brother Tom, Andy built a business that provided steel to the world and good jobs and dignity for generations of Chicago's American families. But Andy's contributions went far beyond Chicago. Growing up, Andy attended school at St. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church in Chicago, where he learned the importance of Greek culture and the Greek Orthodox Church. When World War II came, Andy served as a captain in the U.S. Army in Europe and Africa and was awarded the Bronze Star. But he brought more than a Bronze Star home from that experience. He stayed on in Belgium after the war ended to run a liberated Ford Motor Company plant that was rebuilding American-made cars and trucks for sale to European governments. Landing that job was the second best thing that happened to him in Belgium. By far, his greatest source of luck was when he met his beautiful wife Louise. Before Andy retired from the steel business, he used to have to carry two briefcases to keep all his activities straight. In one briefcase were the things he needed for his business.…
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