Wednesday, January 6, 2021
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OBITUARY OF PETER COMBEST
Peter Combest's (Παναγιώτης Καμπίτση) life story is one of overcoming massive hurdles and self sacrifice for others. He was born in Kerameies on the island of Kephalonia, Greece in 1926 to a poor family of farmers and sailors. At the age of 13 he was handed a shotgun to help defend Greece and democracy from Mussolini & Hitler's facist invasion. After World War II he worked in port cities around the world to try to send money back home to his family in Greece, which suffered the loss of 2 children lost to starvation during the war. After coming to America illegally he was offered citizenship in exchange for his service to this country in the Korean war, an offer he could not refuse after he saw the abundance of food and opportunity America had to offer. After the Korean War he came to New York and married Margaret Moustakis. Together they worked tirelessly to support their 4 children and to give them a college education. He was very proud that despite his own inability to read or write in the English language, he was able to help send all of his children to American universities. He also was proud to have supported his family in Greece throughout his life from his quest to find work that could feed him and his family. He had gone off at a very young age to places such as Italy, Egypt, Japan, and ultimately the USA, and was proud of his own perseverance against war, poverty, and hunger. We are proud that his legacy is one of hard work, sacrifice, and giving to others.
Having personally experienced starvation himself, he was always profoundly saddened by hunger and strove to fight it wherever he could. In lieu of flowers we welcome donations to Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Hicksville and to Long Island Cares, a local foodbank helping Long Islander's suffering from food insecurity for donations in his memory:
Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church
http://www.holytrinityhicksville.ny.goarch.org/
20 Field Avenue, Hicksville, NY 11801
+15164334522
Long Island Cares, Inc.
www.licares.org
10 Davids Drive
Hauppauge, NY 11788
631.582.3663
