George Tom Kirages

George Tom Kirages, age 90, passed away on October 18, 2021.  George was born in Kane, Pennsylvania on February 5, 1931 to his parents Thomas and Aphrodite (Freda Zekou) Kirages who had previously immigrated from Greece.  At the age of 5, George, his younger brother John, and Freda returned to Greece to live with family so his father was able to move around and find work in the US during the great depression years.  The family returned to the US in 1940 due to fears of Germany invading Greece during World War II.  The family resided in Three Rivers, Michigan in 1940, while Tom was working in the food business.  In 1941, Diana Theatre owner, and close Greek friend, Nick Paikos wrote Tom and persuaded him to move his family to Tipton, Indiana and buy the Palace Café business located at 120 East Jefferson, where Moore Title and Escrow is currently located.

In 1948, Tom purchased the building at 138 East Jefferson, (which was believed to be Bryan’s five- and ten-cent store) and opened Tom’s Cafeteria.  This is the location where Second Blessings Thrift Store is currently located.

George was a 1949 graduate of Tipton High School.  He also graduated with an engineering degree from Purdue University in 1953 and accepted employment with Bendix Aviation Corporation in Mishawaka, Indiana, doing design work for surface to air guided missiles for the U.S. Navy.  George was drafted and served in the Army from 1953 to 1955, mostly in Fort Riley, Kansas.  Following his tour of duty, George married his life time soul mate, Susan (Sue) Marie Duliakas in 1956 in Titusville, Pennsylvania. George and Sue had been married for sixty-five years at the time of his death.

Their first child, Tom was born in South Bend in 1957, shortly before the family returned to Tipton to assist in managing the operation of Tom’s Cafeteria.  Their second son, Jim was born in 1958 in Tipton.  George accepted employment with FMC Corporation in Tipton in 1967, and operational responsibility of the cafeteria was turned over to Sue.  George worked at FMC until 1986 when they ceased manufacturing operations in Tipton.  George was then employed by Firestone in Noblesville until his retirement in 1996.

George and Sue were members of the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Carmel.  For years they looked forward to the annual Greek Festival in Indianapolis (now in Carmel) where they volunteered their time “stirring” the Galaktoboureko (a Greek custard pastry) in preparation for sale in the wildly popular dessert section of the festival.

In his lifetime, George was a member of the Elks and Kiwanis Clubs and a member of the Masonic Lodge.  He enjoyed bowling, golf, tinkering with electrical and mechanical gadgets and playing poker with a group of friends called “The Old Goats”.

George was preceded in death by his parents and his younger brother John.  He is survived by his wife Sue, sons Tom (Beatrice) Kirages, Jim (Tami) Kirages, grandsons Tyler Kirages (Makenzie Davies), Drew (Lauren) Kirages, and granddaughters Anastasia Kirages and Katherine Kirages.

A private graveside service was held at Fairview Cemetery with family and close friends on Thursday, October 21.  Funeral rites were conducted by Fr. Gregory Hohnholt of the Greek Orthodox Cathedral.

The family would like to pay special thanks to all of the caregivers of the Guardian Angel Hospice organization for providing care and comfort to George and the family for the last several weeks of his life.

Most importantly, much appreciation to all of the family and friends who were recently able to visit George.  The love shown meant a lot to the family as well as George.  The family is requesting in lieu of flowers to make a donation to their favorite charity in the name of George.

Young-Nichols Funeral Home assisted the family with arrangements.