Alexandros Dimitreos Sourtzis

Alexandros Dimitreos Sourtzis was born in a small village of Frantzi, Ftheotida, Greece on April 2, 1928 to parents that were farmers. He was the third in a family of four children. He lived through tough times especially during the Second World War when the Germans and Italians occupied his village and country. As a young man, he pursued his passions of jumping on his motorbike early in the morning and going fishing and hunting. He also liked participating in the celebrations and music festivals in his village. It gave him great joy when he had the chance to sing and dance at these events that would last into the wee hours of the night. He was also heavily involved and influenced by the teachings of the Church. It gave the strong moral values that he still has today.

At the age of 16, his father passed away as a result of a blow to the head by an Italian soldier during the war. It left Alex to take care of his mother and younger sister. After working the farm for a few years it got him thinking that this was not what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. He wanted to learn a trade. So at 19, he chose to become an auto mechanic and went to a garage as an apprentice. Later, with 7 years experience, he and a friend opened a mechanic's shop in 1955.

One day a chance came, when he was talking to a customer who told him about Canada and its opportunities. This man was planning to go to Canada and asked my father if he would like to come as well. He could have a job right away because of his knowledge of European cars. My father saw this prospect as a way for a better life. He would also be taking the chance trip to 'America' that his father had missed earlier.

So after 9 years of running his own business, he closed it down and on July 11, 1964, Alex, at the age of 36, left his country behind and arrived in Moncton, NB Canada. For the next couple of years, he worked for a service station owned by his friend, changing tires and repairing cars. When his friend decided to go back to Greece, the service station closed and it left Alex with no work. But he was in luck and in 1967 he was hired on to work for a local car dealership called 'City Chrysler'. He started to settle into life in Moncton and decided to make it official and became a Canadian citizen in 1971.

After the death of him mother in 1973, he returned to Greece for her funeral and on the advice of family was told that since his mother was gone that he should find someone to marry. He had been given a 1-year leave of absence if he needed it from his job and within that time, in March 1974, he got engaged to my mother, Eleftheria Karavasilis. A month later, they were married and left for Canada together to start their new life. In the next five years, three children followed: 2 daughters Drosou and Eleni, and a son Dimitri. Being the only income-earner of the family, he worked hard and kept money tight in order to support everyone.

After 46 years as an auto mechanic he retired in 1993. Three years later, sadness fell on the family when he lost one of his daughters Eleni, in an unfortunate accident.

Now at 78 years old, he enjoys the simple life. My father had once said that he had envisioned himself enjoying a good life in his older years and I think that his aspiration has come true. After 42 years in Canada, he never regrets the decision he made to come here. With the journey my father made to a foreign land and all that he has been through, he has taught me, with hard work it doesn't matter how old you are that it is never too late to make a better life for yourself.