Stamatios Vassilas, known to his friends as Taki, passed away peacefully in the company of his family on June 8, 2019 at Mary Washington Hospital Center.  He was born in Corfu, Greece to parents Nikolas and Elisabet Vassilas and was the youngest of 12 siblings.

His family moved to Athens, Greece when he was a young child where he met his wife of 59 years, Fotini (Karakatsani) Vassilas, in grade school.  His passion was music and he was an accomplished guitar player and singer.  He spent much of his younger years performing in local taverns around Athens and had a smooth, silky voice that was loved by many.

He served 2 years in the Greek Army as a minesweeper and was also trained as a heavy equipment operator.  After leaving the service he continued his career and was responsible for the construction of the Greek National Highway as well as the infrastructure of the original Athens International Airport and Airport of Corfu.

Taki then immigrated to the United States with his wife and son in 1970 and became a naturalized citizen in 1976.  He was proud to be an American and grateful to have been afforded the opportunity to peruse his American Dream.  From 1974 to1994 he owned and operated 2 very successful restaurants, the first was Athens Carry-Out in Washington, D.C. followed by Suitland Restaurant in Suitland, MD.  He retired in 1994 but tragically has a major stroke while in Greece 3 weeks after his retirement.  He spent the last 25 years of his life wheelchair bound and unable to speak or sing with his beautiful voice but was lovingly and tirelessly cared for by his wife.

He is survived by his wife Fotini Vassilas, his son Filaretos (Fil) Vasilas and daughter-in-law Cindy Vasilas, and 3 grandchildren Steven Taki Vasilas (Skylar), Ellie Elizabeth Vasilas (Dallas), and Alexander Isaac Vasilas.