JAMES (JIM) STEPHEN MELIDONES
Posted: May 4th, 2015January 23, 1945 – April 25, 2015
With sadness we announce the passing of Jimmy “The Greek” Melidones at Vancouver General Hospital on April 25, 2015. By his side were his beloved wife, Heather, family and friends. Jim will be greatly missed by family, cousins and friends around the world.
Jim was married to the love of his life, Heather Melidones (Brodie), for twenty-nine years. He and Heather shared a love of sports, adventures and travel. In particular, Jim loved hockey and passionately followed the Vancouver Canucks. He was also a lifetime fan of baseball but cheered the loudest for the Toronto Blue Jays.
Born in Middlesborough, England to the late Stathy and Pat Melidones, Jim grew up in Medicine Hat, Alberta and later graduated from Mont Royal College. Jim was particularly proud of his Medicine Hat roots and enjoyed following junior hockey on the prairies.
Jim joined Canadian Pacific Airlines in January 1967 and retired from Air Canada in 2010. He was the ultimate concierge at Vancouver International Airport and used his positive and gregarious personality to make everyone feel special.
A charismatic and charming man, Jim’s life motto was “not a problem”! He was kind and generous with a unique ability to make people smile. Telling great stories was part of Jim’s charm and he loved to talk about the adventures had been on with Heather. Some of his favorites included swimming with the dolphins in New Zealand, catching Piranhas on the Amazon, and watching the giraffes in Tanzania.
The family would like to thank Dr. D. Krygier RCH, Dr V. Huckell, Dr J. Kasson and the wonderful team of Doctors and Nurses at Vancouver General Hospital ICU for their care.
A Celebration of Jim’s Life will be held on Monday June 15th from 1:00-4:00pm at the Beach Grove Golf Club at 5946 12th Avenue in Tsawwassen. In lieu of flowers, donations to Canucks for Kids Fund are greatly appreciated.
Jim will be forever in our hearts and our memories.
So sorry to hear of Jim’s passing – I will always remember how helpful Jim was when Doug’s Mom (Martha Huckle) fell down the stairs while visiting us in Langley BC – and we knew she could not handle the drive back home in the car – Doug’s Dad (Palmer Huckle) drove home and we got Mom on a flight home -We were told she couldn’t travel etc and Jim was wonderful in arranging her trip home-We will always be grateful to Him – He even had us see her right to the plane – REST IN PEACE JIM _YOUR WORK ON EARTH IS DONE