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Nick Gouvellis, father, husband, grandfather, great-grandfather, dancer, lover of people and hats, passed away Saturday, August 7, 2021 after living 98 years on earth. He died pretty much how he lived his life, surrounded by his large family, friends, and neighbors. Nick was married to Olga Gouvellis, who passed away in 1991, for 44 years. The two started a family that grew to include three daughters, a son, seven grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. Nick was a businessman and salesman with an entrepreneurial spirit, owning a bar and several carpet stores in Delaware and Florida. Nick never met a person he couldn't strike up a conversation with, which explains why his home was always full of visiting relatives and friends. He was a fixture in his Lake Highland neighborhood as the man who greeted children, dogs, and neighbors as he read his paper on the front porch. He valued his family more than anything, once remarking to a braggadocious wealthy person, “see those children, they are my portfolio.” Nick was a proud army veteran of World War II, serving in the Pacific theater. He liked to tell his family that he would have reached a higher rank in the army if there wasn’t an incident that may or may not have had something to do with an explosion of an unauthorized still. Born Nicholas D. Gouvellis in Chester, Pennsylvania on July 29, 1923, he spent part of his life there and in Delaware before moving his family to the Orlando neighborhood of College Park in 1972. Nick’s retirement years were full of life and new friends, many of them women who shared his love of dancing and music. His children often heard his friends say “Women love Nick. Men want to be him.” His sense of humor was legendary and stayed with him to the end. In his final days, as his family and friends gathered in his home to say their goodbyes, he remarked, “If I knew dying was going to be so much fun I would have done it sooner.” Nick is survived by his daughter Patricia Blankenship, her husband James and their two children, Nick, his wife Judy, and Adam, his wife Christin and his children Addison and Keillie; daughter Mary Gouvellis and her daughter Kara Zacconi (her husband Brett Tabisel) and her son, Leo Tabisel; daughter Susan Wigle, her husband Steve, and their daughters Emily and Katie; son Jim and his daughter Jessica and son Cooper. Funeral services will be announced at a later date. The family has requested that in lieu of flowers, anyone who knew Nick find someone to dance with in his honor. He preferred the Blues.

Tributes

Nick D. Gouvellis

July 29, 1923 - August 7, 2021