Simos Constantine Dimas passed away on Friday, November 29th , 2024 while visiting his beloved son Alex and daughter-in-law Annalise in Orlando, Florida. He was 76 years old.
Simos began his career in trust and estate planning at Chase Manhattan and Morgan Guaranty. A graduate of Columbia College, he received his JD from Fordham University School of Law. He is a recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor awarded to “Americans of diverse origins for their outstanding contributions to their own ethnic groups and to American society.”
As an attorney active in both the US and his spiritual and historical home, Greece, Simos successfully litigated the first case brought by the Greek government under its antiquities law. He aided in the negotiation of the US-Greek bilateral air treaties as co-counsel to the Greek delegation representing the Greek national carrier Olympic Airways in the US. Simos was also proud to work with the American Jewish lobby on the recognition of Israel by Greece. Indeed, his service to Greece dates to the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974. Following the 1985 Reagan travel advisory against travel to Greece, Simos served as Director of Greek National Tourism, organizing a national public relations and advertising campaign which was credited with revitalizing Greek tourism at the time.
Ever-proud of his Epirotan heritage, Simos was a past president of the Panepirotic Federation of America and worked with the Greek Foreign Ministry on Albanian refugee policy and issues involving the Greek ethnic minority in Albania. Until his passing, Simos was active on behalf of the Greek minority in Albania as well as other international and domestic litigation for his clients.
Simos had an indefatigable commitment to justice. He regarded the practice of law as a privilege which included the obligation to defend the underdog and to constantly pursue truth and fairness. Impervious to the conventional opinions, Simos was a champion of just causes. Endowed with a fully formed Orthodox consciousness, to his friends, adversaries, and many admirers he justly earned the reputation as “the Last Knight”.
He is survived by his sister, two sons and a name-sake grandson. He was a tireless, loving and self-less grandfather. The day before he passed, on Thanksgiving morning Simos wrote to his family, “On this day when we celebrate the blessings we have received I want all of you to know how grateful I am for the many blessings I have received from all of you, not just this year, but for all the past years. Lots of love from me.”