After hearing the sad news last night, I stared out the window here in Colorado while thinking about the past three decades I have known Jimmy. My first thought was that he lived a great life and that he and his wonderful family have truly blessed us all. Then I remembered a conversation I had with him a few years ago, I asked him about his early years in Greece, he shared with me about how he started out as a shepherd, and when he came to America, he learned English working in a donut shop. As I picture him in the role of shepherd, I ask myself, how does one go from the humble beginnings of a shepherd boy to making such a huge impact into so many lives?
In the ancient Greek language, (the language the Apostles wrote the New Testament), stands the word ποιμὴν, Shepherd, (figuratively) someone who the Lord raises up to care for the total well-being of his flock. To his family, Jimmy was a beloved husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather, brother, uncle, cousin and friend to all who knew him. To us all, he was our shepherd, just like the biblical definition. God raised that humble Greek shepherd boy to care for the well-being of so many of us it really was apparent at his 80th birthday celebration the immense respect and admiration of this man because of the personal impact of his life on so many.
No doubt we all share great stories, amazing stories, and great memories, as it is right to give honor where honor is due. I keep thinking about him as a young boy with dreams of America, dreams of having a family, building a family business , and adopting all of us who worked as vendors at Spartan Manor into that family as if you were his own flesh and blood. It was special for me that Jimmy called me Yanni. He had a way of making everyone feel special. Like all great fathers, you knew he genuinely rejoiced in your successes, too.
In reality, I realized that boy from Greece never stopped shepherding us, for the job of a shepherd is keeping the flock fed, think about it, this man fed more people in our area consistently the finest meal from the 1970's on. Then there is him guiding his flock, he without a doubt gave us all wise counsel. If you were in a spot, you asked him for advice, he would be a true friend and tell you the truth, even if it hurt because a true friend will always tell you the truth. A shepherd watches his flock, he instinctively knew exactly when to step in and give you a nudge.
His graciousness is unsurpassed in our community; who else would invite you to dinner or parties, feed you, and then get up and thank you for everything you do to make him successful? Every holiday party each year he would take the mic and do just that for all us vendors who made a living because of his hard work, because of his family, it is their work ethic that kept my family fed and I am sure many others can say the same.
There is one thing I can say about Jimmy, he was the real deal. He and Judith raised some amazing kids and grandkids too, in fact, you could give your bank pin number to any one of them and entrust them with your life savings because no matter what they learned as I did from Jimmy, "always do the right thing, no matter what."
May he rest in the arms of the Savior, until we meet again in heaven, thank you Jimmy we all love you and as your great friend Pete would say, "thanks for stopping by."
Now as Jimmy would say, "get off the spacebook and play cards."