Constantinos Michael Metaxas,Sr.

Constantinos Michael Metaxas, Sr, 64, died at home after battling cancer. He has been a resident of Cleveland for the past 49 years. He was born on September 14, 1955 on the British island of Cyprus. He worked at Peyton’s and at the iconic Gondolier restaurant in Cleveland, as well as running his own business in Jaguar car parts and restoration. He and his family came to the United States as refugees after being held hostage in Cyprus by the Turkish government. Forced to leave everything behind at gunpoint except for the family bible, he and his family were once again reunited when they arrived from Cyprus to Cleveland, after three years apart.
Dinos attended Cleveland High School and Cleveland State College and was a member of New Hope Church of the Nazarene. He was self-taught in multiple subjects.
Dinos loved cycling, Jaguars, gardening, cats, and building with his hands. He won the Tennessee State Championship in cycling, but the title was revoked because he was not yet a citizen. He self-trained for years with dreams to enter the Tour de France. Dinos was well known in the community. He was preceded in death by his adored mother, Irene Metaxas, and father Michael Constantinos Metaxas; sister Georgia Snow, his grandparents Constantine and Euphrosyne; uncles, Soteris, George, Andreas Metaxas; and Antonios Pavlides, Michael Kounnas, and George, Christos, and Paul Pavlidou; grandparents, Kyriakos and Anastasia Pavlidou; aunts, Maritsa, Panayiota, Athena, and Eleni; niece Shelly Snow, nephew Stephen Metaxas, and brother, Nikiphoros Metaxas.
Survivors include his wife, Julie Key Metaxas, a son, Constantinos Michael Metaxas II and wife Amanda, grandchildren Andreas and Vivian; a daughter, Ana Metaxas and husband Jonathan Starling. Siblings include John Metaxas and wife Elaine; Esther Metaxas; Chris Metaxas and wife Teresa; Tassos Metaxas and wife June. Nieces and nephews include Jennifer Conway, Rachel Metaxas, Stephanie Snow, Paul Metaxas, and Alexander Metaxas.
The family will receive friends from 5 to 9 pm on Friday, January 31, 2010 at First Church of the Nazarene in Cleveland, TN. The funeral will be held at 1:00 pm with viewing at 12:00 on Saturday, February 1, 2010 at the same location.
The interment will follow at Union Grove Cemetery in Charleston, TN. Online condolences may be sent to www.companionfunerals.com. In lieu of flowers, please donate to your favorite charity, or at one of the following charity suggestions: https://thecaringplaceonline.org/, https://www.cancer.org/, https://www.humanesociety.org/, https://www.sens.org/, and https://www.unhcr.org/cy/ for Cypriot refugees.