Trifon Stiliadis

Trifon “Tony” Stiliadis, 96, passed away peacefully on Saturday, March 16th. He was surrounded by his loving family. He spent his last day talking, smiling, and laughing with his family.  He was born in Drosopigi, Greece to the late Paskali and Konstantina Stiliadis. He proudly served in the Greek army. Trifon came to the U.S. with his wife Stavroula and two daughters in 1967 and resided in Syracuse for rest of his life. He was a member of St. Sophia’s Greek Orthodox Church. 

Upon arriving in Syracuse, he worked as a manufacturer at Syracuse China for seventeen years. However, anyone that knew him knows his favorite job was helping his daughter, Dina, and son in-law, John, at J.R. Diner until he was 95. He greeted everyone with a warm smile and the offering of, “maybe, coffee?” Although there was a language barrier, he was deeply loved by the loyal customers of J.R. Diner who knew him as “Tony”. His strong work ethic was admirable. 

Trifon was a devoted husband, father, and papou. Taking care of his family was his passion. Later in life, he enjoyed visits with his great-grandchildren who lovingly referred to him as “big papou”. He loved planting his meticulous vegetable garden every summer, but also complained about having to water it daily through the hot summer days. His guilty pleasure was buying scratch-off tickets. He was a simple man who never wanted gifts. However, he never turned down “scratchies” on holidays and his birthday.

 Trifon is survived by his loving wife of 73 years, Stavroula; daughter, Dina(John) Rados; daughter, Helen “Lela”; grandchildren, Tony(Valerie) and Christina Rados; and great-grandchildren, Bryce and Bennett. He also leaves his younger brother, Nikolaos(Peggy) Styliades of Fort Lee, NJ. In addition to his parents, he is predeceased by his older brother Giorgos (Eleni) of Greece. He is also survived by several nieces, nephews, and cousins, both here and abroad. A private Orthodox funeral service will be held at St. Sophia’s Greek Orthodox Church. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to St. Sophia’s Greek Orthodox Church.