Leadership 100 Mourns The Passing Of George K. Chimples, Founder & Past Co-Chairman

Cleveland, OH – George K. Chimples, a Founder of Leadership 100 and its Co-Chairman from the inception of the organization in 1984 to 1996, died after a brief illness on Saturday, March 13, 2010. He was 91 years of age.

George K. Chimples

Chimples was a noted philanthropist, business entrepreneur, and leader in the Greek Orthodox Church, Leadership 100 and the Greek Community He was born in Kardamyla on the island of Chios in Greece and was graduated from the gymnasion in Chios and the Merchant Marine Academy in Piraeus. A Greek Merchant Marine officer for seven years, he joined the Royal Greek Navy in 1943, serving as an officer and participating in the Allied invasion of Normany under General Dwight Eisenhower. After having immigrated to the United States, studying business administration and establishing himself as a successful business leader, he was among 22 guests invited to a breakfast meeting in Cleveland with President Dwight Eisenhower in 1956. He was founder and former CEO of AMAC Enterprises, Inc., a metal finishing company, MEGA Systems, an electronics manufacturing firm, and Dean Land Company and a founding director of Commerce Exchange Bank. A devoted churchman, he was elevated to Archon Megas Primikirios at SS. Constantine and Helen Cathedral in Cleveland in 1957 and served for 27 years as National Finance Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Archdiocesan Council of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America. In that capacity, he was credited with the establishment of the LOGOS program and with conceiving the idea of a National Endowment Program that led to the establishment of the Archbishop Iakovos Leadership 100 Endowment Fund, Inc., a national charitable membership organization that supports the National Ministries of the Greek Orthodox Church for which he travelled near and far to promote its mission.

A proud member and benefactor of SS. Constantine and Helen, where he served as Trustee, President, Vice President and Chairman of the Board of Education and Building Fund, he also supported the St. Basil Academy and St. Michael’s Home, the United Hellenic American Congress, and Hellenic College-Holy Cross School of Theology where he established a scholarship fund. He was also an active member of the Chios Society, a long-time member of AHEPA, founder of the Kardamylian Foundation and founding President of the United Hellenic Communities of Greater Cleveland. A resident of Lyndhurst, Ohio, he leaves his wife, Janet W., and his sons and daughters, Eugenia Hasiotis, who serves on the Executive Committee of Leadership 100 and Dr. George Hasiotis, Christine and Peter Anzo, Constantine and Kathleen Chimples and Thomas and Theresa Chimples, and eight grandchildren. Archbishop Demetrios of America presided at the funeral at SS. Constantine and Helen on Tuesday, March 16. Contributions may be made in his memory to the George K. Chimples Scholarship Fund at Hellenic College/Holy Cross School of Theology, 50 Goddard Avenue, Brookline, MA 02445 or to the SS.Constantine and Helen Endowment Fund, 3352 Mayfield Road, Cleveland Heights, OH 44118.