Bill,Eva,George,Tom,Mae

Evdokia’s (Eva’s or Kia’s) husband, Vasilios (Bill) Meditskos, flew and immigrated to Canada from Greece on July 9th, 1955. Bill was granted Canadian citizenship with the help of his sister who moved to Canada prior to Bill arriving for an arranged marriage. Bill then helped his family immigrate to Canada. Eva, maiden name Beltsis, 31,and her two children, Georgios (George), 8, and Thomas (Tom), 7, traveled to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada on the Queen Frederica (S.S. Vasilissa Friederiki) on May 18th, 1956 from Piraeus, Greece.

Eva said that George and Tom caused a lot of trouble. They played with the ascenseur (elevator), up and down, and ran around the ship. Eva was terrified that George and/or Tom would fall into the Mediterranean Sea or Atlantic Ocean, because “they were so wild.” As stated, Eva wouldn’t know how to explain herself if that happened. George and Tom gave Eva “a hell of a time.”

Eva and Bill, as did many others, desired to come to Canada for a better life. The news on the radio and newspaper promised a better life as well. This was especially true after the many wars their village suffered through, most impactful being World War II from 1939 to 1945 with the Nazi occupation of Greece and the civil war that ravaged Greece from 1946 to 1949. Eva and Bill were from Agios Panteleimon, a village in Florina in the West Macedonia Region of Greece, which was informally once part of the now established Republic of Macedonia (North Macedonia).

From 168 B.C., Florina was part of the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire) until it fell to the Ottoman Empire (Turkish) in the 14th century. Florina suffered Bulgarian and Yugoslavian irredentist agitation falling under Bulgarian control during World War I, World War II and the second Balkan War, then finally returning to Greece. Florina was also impacted by the Greek War of Independence, Greco-Turkish war, and the Macedonian Struggle among other historically significant conflicts.

Eva has stated that she went to the train station with her two children, from her village, and took the train to Thessaloniki, Greece. From there they flew to Athens, Greece. They then took a bus to Piraeus, Greece. From Piraeus, they took the S.S. Vasilissa Friederiki to Halifax. When they got to Halifax, they took the train to Toronto, Ontario, Canada. From Toronto they traveled to 61 Beverely St, Galt, Ontario, Canada where Bill was living and renting at the time.

Eva said that she was excited to see the boat and to begin her journey across the Atlantic Ocean. Eva was filled with happiness throughout the journey. It was one of the best moments of her life. Eva promised the Titan Immigration and Travel Agency that she would work hard when she got to North America to ensure she was able to immigrate. Eva described the tourist class cabin room 629 as small, with one bunk bed. They stayed in the middle of the ship because the kids were small. As described by Eva, “not at the very bottom and not at the very top.” George slept on the top bunk with Tom, and Eva slept on the bottom. The children were fighting with each other as the space was really limited for the two of them to sleep. Eva was scared to death, because George fell down from the top bunk and almost injured himself severely one day.

Eva described the boat as nice and big, but not too big. There was lots of good food. People were very happy, there was dancing, singing, and very good live Spanish and Italian music. Eva vividly remembered a live orchestra premiere that she went up to attend with her two children one day. Eva described the trip as 10 days of sunny and good weather. The boat stopped in different ports on the way to Canada, specifically Naples, Palermo, and Gibraltar. Eva and her two children had a wonderful time and were happy to reunite with her husband, Bill, in Canada to start their new life on May 28th, 1956.

Eva and Bill lived for a number of years in Galt. They rented a home owned by the Salvation Army at 14 Shade St after moving from 61 Beverely St, then purchased their first home at 10 5th Ave some years later. They lived in Galt until around 1960, when they moved to 13 Kelvin Ave, Toronto in an upstairs rental apartment. They then bought and moved to 5 Spain Rd, Scarborough, Ontario, Canada in the 1960’s. They had a daughter, Mae Meditskos, on May 13, 1968. Eventually they purchased another home and moved to East York, Toronto, Ontario in 1969 to continue to build their life.

The Meditskos family worked factory, construction, landscape, city, trucking and restaurant jobs over the years to accumulate wealth. The family bought and worked in the Fisher’s Court restaurant in the Burlington Mall in Burlington, Ontario, Canada in 1977. They rented a one-bedroom apartment across from the Burlington Mall during this time.

Eventually, they sold the restaurant in around the mid-1980’s. Bill trained and worked as a car/truck mechanic/technician/repairer and even opened his own trucking business with George named M. Bill’s Haulage and Excavating. Eva worked for Philco-Ford Electronics as a solder technician for many years and learned English as her first and last job in Canada, eventually retiring.

This memorial is in honour and loving memory of Vasilios (Bill), Evdokia (Eva), Georgios (George), Thomas (Tom) and Mae Meditskos.