Theodore Monolidis Age 97 August 25, 2015. Beloved husband of Demetra (nee:Vergos) since 1949. Loving father of Christina (Gregory) Viscomi and Thomas (Steve Foreman). Grandfather of Maria and Adriana. Brother of Sophie Sahines. Also survived by many nieces and nephews.

Theodore Monolidis' lifelong commitment to family, the legal profession, his church, and community service personifies the Hellenic-Christian education ideal of a person "who has developed
character and possesses a core of tried values and a persistent effort to apply them in every day life."

Among the qualities valued by our church fathers, namely The Three Hierarchs, are humility, pursuit of knowledge, belief and regard for the rights, liberties and privileges of his fellow man, and a love of philanthropia . These have been the focus of Theodore Monolidis' life.

Theodore Monolidis was born in Fremont Ohio on April 6, 1918. His parents, Athanasios and Arcadia Monolidis (Emmnanuelides) had emigrated as part of the ethnic cleansing of their hometown
of Stranza, Turkey in 1915. The family moved to Detroit in 1920. He graduated from Central High School in Detroit MI in 1935. He attended the University of Detroit and graduated in 1939 with a B.S. in accounting then was admitted to the Detroit College of Law where he attended law school in the evening while working in his father's grocery store. His legal studies were interrupted by WWII when he was drafted into the U.S. Army. He served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps with distinction from July 1941 to February 1946 where he attained the rank of First Lieutenant. He served in the European Theater of operations at the 28 General Hospital, Commander Detachment of Patients, Liege Belgium and was involved with the Battle of the Bulge. In 1953 he was admitted to the Military Order of World Wars and shortly thereafter the American Legion.

After returning back to Detroit following his discharge he returned to the Detroit College of Law graduating in June of 1948. While he was attending law school he started his own accounting
business with offices in the Penobscot Building. He was the Assistant City Attorney for the City of Dearborn Heights from 1968 - 1978, and was appointed by Michigan Attorney General Frank Kelley as a Wayne County Public Administrator administering to the underprivileged and incapacitated individuals in Wayne County who have no family to manage their estates from 1965-2012.

Mr. Monolidis joined the parish of Sts. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church in 1950. He served on the Board of Trustees for over 25 years and served as legal counsel from 1961-64, Parish
President from 1962-65 devoting many hours to the affairs of the church. He was made Trustee Emeritus on April 7, 1979 and received the Man of the Year award in 2005. He has been a member of
the Order of Ahepa for over fifty years.

He has visited the Patriarchate in Istanbul on three separate occasions and was invited to a private reception hosted by His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras in 1956 where they
discussed, among other things, the Detroit diocese. During that meeting His All-Holiness inquired "How is the fish at the Seafood Grotto?", a restaurant owned by one of Sts. Constantine and Helen's founding fathers, J.C. Constand, a lifelong friend of His All-Holiness.

Mr. Monolidis continued to practice law and celebrated 65 years of practice in 2013. From 1948-2010 his law office was located in the historic Penobscot Building in downtown Detroit. In 2010 the firm moved to its current location in Dearborn, MI. Over the years Mr. Monolidis had been very active in many civil and philanthropic
organizations as well as the Democratic Party. He had been active in politics for over fifty years and attended the inaugurations of Presidents Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter, George Bush and William
J. Clinton. He was the Treasurer for the Committee to Elect and later the Committee to Re-Elect Congressman William D. Ford, former United States Congressman, for his entire tenure in Congress from 1965 - 1995.

Since 1949 he had been active in masonry. He joined the Wolverine Lodge #484 in 1949, the Moslem Shrine in 1953 where he served as chairman of the Committee for Wills and Bequests. Also, in 1953, he was admitted to the Scottish Rite Valley of Detroit and worked with the Masonic Temple Library Committee. He joined the Royal Order of Jesters in 1977.

In 1969 he joined the Knights Templar of Detroit Commandery #1 and he served as the Commander in 1979-80. He was awarded with the Grand Commander's Service Award in 2000 for his work with the Hospitaler's Committee which allots 110 lift aid chairs to handicapped persons to facilitate their mobility, and awards defibrillators to local organizations. He joined the York Rite
College in 1975 and was invited to join Red Cross of Constantine in 2000.

He was elected to the Board of Trustees for the Michigan Opera Theater in 1995, was a benefactor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and had been a member of the Detroit Athletic Club
since 1996.

Visitation Sunday 3-8pm with a 7pm Trisagian service at the John N. Santeiu & Son Funeral Home, 1139 Inkster Rd., Garden City (between Ford Rd. and Cherry Hill). In-state Monday 10am followed by the 11am Funeral Service at Sts. Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Church, 36375 Joy Rd., (east of Newburgh).

Family suggests memorials to Sts. Constantine & Helen Church.