LEO MICHAELS, beloved husband, father, grandfather and father-in-law from Kokora, Greece died on Tuesday, January 5, 2016. He was 85 years old
Leo Michaels, born Leonidas Giorgios Mihalopoulos on 8/17/31 of Palm Beach Gardens, FL.
He was the youngest of 8 children from Kokora, Greece.
He immigrated to the United States in 1951 at the age of 19 to Canton, Ohio.
He dutifully served in the US Army during the Korean War, from which
he was honorably discharged. Subsequent to military service, he worked
in Chicago as a waiter in hotels and was head waiter at the Drake Hotel.
He then opened his own bar with his brothers whom he had brought over from Greece.
He met his future wife Vlasia Petroutsopoulou in Greece and they were married there in 1963.
He moved his young family to Ann Arbor, Michigan, and there he established
a highly successful restaurant, “The Best Steakhouse,” on the campus
of the University of Michigan in the 1970’s. Later, he moved to south Florida
in the early 1980’s where he owned several successful diners
(the Broadway Diner and the Michaels Diner). After retirement, he settled
in Palm Beach Gardens, FL and has resided there with his wife for the past 20 years.
His son, George Michaels, is a member of Leadership 100.
George attended the University of Miami, where he played football and
won 2 national championships (1989,1991).
He is a Managing Director in Distressed Trading at Seaport Global in New York City.
Prior to Seaport Global, he worked at Credit Suisse and Salomon Brothers.
Leo is survived by his loving wife of 52 years Vlasia,
his sons Peter and George, his daughter-in-law Marie-Ange,
and his grandchildren Katerina, Nicholas, Leo, and Elias.
The Funeral Home is Brockett Funeral Home in Southampton, NY (631)283-0822.
The Funeral is at Kimisis tis Theotokou Greek Orthodox Church
111 St Andrews Road, Southampton, NY 11968 on January 16th at 9:30 AM.
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