In Loving Memory of
Andronicos Michael (Tsangaris)
1946 – 2013
BORN: 5th July 1946
5TH JULY 1946 PYRGA, LARNACA CYPRUS
DIED: 4th April 2013
4TH APRIL 2013, AGED 66, THE NATIONAL HOSPITAL FOR NEUROLOGY AND NEUROSURGERY, QUEENS SQUARE, LONDON
CAUSE OF DEATH:
PARENTS:
SIBLINGS:
GIORGOULLA ANDREOU
EVRIDIKI MINA
PRODROMOS MICHAEL
DAPHNE (DOMINIQUE) SOTERIOU
EVANGELIA HADJICHRISTOU
ANDRONICOS WAS THE YOUNGEST OF THE CHILDREN
SPOUSE:
CHILDREN:
KOULLA CONSTANTINOU (SPOUSE: LOUCAS CONTANTINOU)
ANTONY MICHAEL (SPOUSE: JULIE MICHAEL)
GRANDCHILDREN:
KRYSTAL DEMETRIOU (NEE CONSTANTINOU)
ELENA DIONISSIOU
NICHOLAS DIONISSIOU
ANDRONICOS DIONISSIOU
CRYSTAL MICHAEL
MARINA MICHAEL
GODCHILDREN:
CHRISSA PASCHALIDES
THEODOROS PAPAPETROU
PIERIS NICOLA
GEORGE GEORGIOU
CHRISTINA CHIMONIDES
CAREER:
OWNER OF ANDREW’S GENTS HAIR STYLIST
3, CAMDEN PARK ROAD, LONDON NW1
SALON OPENED 1ST MAY 1969
SALON NOW RUN BY HIS SON ANTONY MICHAEL
PALL-BEARERS:
BIOGRAPHY
BORN:
Andronicos Michael (Tsangaris) was born on 5th July 1946 in Pyrga, Larnaca,Cyprus to parents, Mihaili and Stavroulla Tsangaris.
Andronicos was the youngest of seven children – (older siblings being Giorgos, (died aged circa. 2years old ) Georgoulla, Evridiki, (b.1934) Domoniqui (Daphne) (1936) Prodromos (1938) and Evangelia)(1943)
EARLY YEARS:
Andronicos’ grew up in a poor but loving family in the small village of Pyrga in Larnaca.
Not owning a pair of shoes until he was 12 years old, he enjoyed running bare foot through the village and up to Stavrovouni monastery – often riding his imaginary ‘horse’ made of broken branches there.
When he had his first pair of shoes, he loved them so much he slept with them the first night he had them.
As well as energetic he was also a curious child with an unrelenting thirst for knowledge – he would question everything – how did the clouds form, the buds blossom, the trees grow?
He had a fascination of how things worked that remained throughout his life and he often told the story that as a young boy he dismantled a much-treasured radio to ascertain how it worked.
Andronicos was brought up in a very tight knit loving family that instilled in him values with which he would live his entire life.
He often recounted the story when, as a young boy, he accompanied his stonemason father on a job to repair a neighbour’s leaking roof. Upon finishing the repair, the man of the house invited Mihaili and the young Andronicos to take dinner with him and his family. Later that evening, the man asked Mihaili how much he owed him for the repairs to which Mihaili responded that he was owed nothing – the food for him and his son was payment enough. Once they have left the house, Andronicos enquired of his father as to why he did not take any money to which his father replied,
‘Son, money comes and money goes, it is a person’s integrity that remains’
It is with this principle that Andronicos lived his entire life. He never placed value on money. He valued people.
LATER YEARS:
At the age of 14 Andronicos trained as a barber in Nicosia.
The course of his life was determined after experiencing the death of his beloved sister Giorgoulla in 1963- who died due to complications whilst giving birth to her youngest child (Giorgoulla / Koulla) and leaving behind older children Elizabeth (Savoulla), Theodora (Dora), Mihalaki, Stavroulla (Lou-Lou) and the newborn Giorgoulla (Koulla)
The young Andronicos, having trained as a barber in Nicosia, vowed that, at the age of 17 he would travel to the UK to earn a living to send back to Cyprus to help his parents financially to help raise his nieces and nephews.
Although his sisters Evridiki, Daphne and Evangelia were living in the UK at the time, upon his arrival to the UK in 1964, Andronicos initially resided with his maternal uncle, Argiros , a barber, and his wife Angeliki.
In circa. 1966, Andronicos left his uncle and thereafter resided with his sister Daphne and her husband Sotos in Torriano Avenue, Camden. It was during this time that he met his future wife, Christalla.
Christalla was the daughter of Pieris and Koulla Nicola, greengrocers in York Way, Camden.
Daphne and Koulla were known to each other, and the two women arranged a ‘meeting’ between Andronicos and Christalla. The meeting comprised of several visits by Andronicos to the greengrocers, where the unamused Christalla overcharged him for his shopping to prevent him from returning to the shop. Despite this, Andronicos didn’t give up on his pursuit to marry the intriguing lady behind the counter and his persistence eventually paid off.
The couple were soon engaged and married on 5th February 1967.
Their first born daughter, Stavroulla (Lulu) was born on 22nd December 1967 followed by their second child, Koulla, on 8th May 1969. Their son Antony was born on 30th August 1978.
Andronicos opened his barber shop, Andronicos Gents Stylist, at 3 Camden Park Road, NW1 on 1st May 1969. He continued to work at the shop for the duration of his life. The shop is now run by his son, Antony Michael.
CAUSE OF DEATH
In 2006, Andronicos started experiencing symptoms such as lethargy, depression, body hair loss, enlarged eatures (facial and hands/feet) and appeared to have aged drastically in a short space of time. Following a series of GP visits, he was given a diagnosis of an underactive thyroid. He was prescribed medication which appeared to relieve some of these symptoms albeit temporarily.
On 23rd April 2009, following a loss of vision, he was taken to Moorfields Eye Hospital where several investigative procedures were carried out. It was confirmed that he had a large pituitary tumour (pituitary macroadenoma with chiasmal compression).
On 24th June 2009, Andronicos underwent his first operation to remove the tumour. Following the completion of the surgery, the family were informed that the surgeon was unable to remove the entirety of the tumour due to its nature- the tumour had calcified and was difficult to remove – an attempt to remove the tumour in its entirety would very likely have resulted in ‘a massive stroke or death’. Andronicos was told that medication and radiotherapy would be given to keep the tumour from growing. Although steroids were given for this purpose, radiotherapy was not. Consequently, on 5th February 2013, Andronicos was advised by his new doctor that MRIs taken between 2009 and 2013 showed a continuous growth of the tumour and it was necessary that an operation be carried out to ‘remove as much of the tumour as possible ‘.
Andronicos’ second surgery was carried out on 27th March 2013.
Following the surgery, a series of complications arose and Andronicos was put into an induced coma.
A few days later, the family were informed that Andronicos’ condition had drastically deteriorated overnight and that they should make their way to the hospital.
A nurse who knew Andronicos from his annual hospital visits, stopped by to inquire as to his condition. The nurse looking after Andronicos stated to her that he was concerned about his pupils. Having checked them together, a neurosurgeon was called and Andronicos was taken for a scan.
Following the scan, the family were told that he had suffered a “massive stroke and that his condition was critical”.
Andronicos Michael passed away on Thursday 4th April 2013 surrounded by his family and friends.
The funeral took place on 19th April 2013. The service was held at All Saints Greek Orthodox Church (aka Agioi Pantes), Camden and his final resting place is in Southgate Cemetery.
Memory Highlights
My Life Events
Breif History of events video and picture gallery
Click on any below Photo and slide to view more!
EULOGY
I feel honoured and privileged to be able to introduce myself as Andronicos’ daughter.
On behalf of my mother, my sister, my brother and myself, I would like to thank you all for being here today to pay your final respects to my father. Many have travelled from oversees, many have taken time off work and many have rescheduled clients and patients to be here today. For this, we shall be eternally grateful.
It is so difficult to put into words what this unique man meant to us and to those that knew him. The impact that he had on us, as a husband, a father, a brother a brother-in-law, an uncle, a friend….
It is impossible to explain to those that did not have the pleasure of meeting him, what an extraordinary human being he really was.
It’s also difficult for me to follow on from speeches that so beautifully encapsulate, to some degree, who my father was but nevertheless, I will say a few words about our dad.
Each of you here today had your own relationship and set of memories with my dad, and although I do not presume to know all your individual stories, I am certain that the common thread of our memories is that this was the man that lit up a room with his smile. A smile that radiated love and sincerity. A smile that spoke volumes. He was a man so generous, that he would gladly give his last penny to a person in need…and he often did. A man who had such a zest for life and lived each day as if it were his last. He appreciated the flowers blooming and the birds singing, he listened intently to words of songs and loved nothing more than to sing and dance and so often we danced together and every time we danced his beaming smile never left his face.
My father was an interested and interesting man. When people spoke he listened with genuine interest and when he spoke he always had a captivated audience. There was never an occasion that he could not link to a joke. He was a man that was so technically minded that there was nothing he couldn’t do and there wasn’t a gadget that he didn’t own. At one time he was stopped at the airport with his pockets full of various items causing an agent at the airport to ask, ‘Who is this guy…James Bond?’ Actually, James Bond had nothing on my dad.
Dad was the youngest of five children. Born in a small village in Cyprus to poor parents. However, what they lacked in money, they made up for in family morals, loyalty and love. Other than the fact that my dad had his first pair of shoes at the age of twelve, he never spoke of the poverty they endured during the late 40s and early fifties, instead he would enlighten us with stories about the kindness and love he shared with his family. He would speak of his own father and would often tell us how deeply he loved him.
The traits he learnt as a child he carried through to his adulthood, with his family being the centre of his life. He was, as my cousin Rula said, the tree of our family and we were the branches.
My father taught us not to judge others. He taught us to accept and love people for who they are. He loved and adored everyone. Always seeing good in the people he met. I would often challenge this, and his response was, we cannot change people and the world Stavroulla mou, we are who we are.
Dad had very little respect for money. His motto was live for today because we don’t know what will happen tomorrow. He indulged not only himself, but all of us with anything we set our heart on. Moreover, he loved to help others. He wouldn’t think twice about emptying his pockets to help a person in need. And this he did often. We never heard of his philanthropic deeds through him, but from others. My dad especially liked to make wishes come true….if he knew that someone really wanted something, nothing gave him more pleasure than surprising them with their wished for item. It is for this reason that the family have opted for donations for the Make A wish Foundation. A charity that sees the dreams of terminally ill children come true.
But over and above all this, the single most special gift he gave us was the gift of love. From as far back as we could remember dad made us feel cherished. He never stopped telling us how much he loved us, and he would refer to us as his treasures. He often said that he didn’t need wealth as in his wife, children and grandchildren he had all the treasure in the World. The love with which he had showered us throughout our lives, has been the single most valuable gift he has given us, for this alone has given us the strength of character and self belief that have made us the people we are today.
It is believed that our purpose on Earth is either to teach or to be taught. Without a shadow of a doubt, my dad was here to teach. He taught us love, respect, generosity and kindness and although our tree is now gone and the branches all broken, with the strength he has given us, the branches have moulded into one giving us the strength to continue his legacy.
God obviously needed dad to undertake a new mission, to teach elsewhere, but if only he could grant one last wish, one last prayer, in the words of Luther Vandross:
If I could steal one final glance
One final step
One final dance with him
I’d play a song that would never ever end
Cause I’d love love love to
Dance with my father again
Sometimes I’d listen outside her door
And I’d hear how mama would cry for him
I’d pray for her even more than me
I know I’m praying for much too much
But could you send her
The only man she loved
I know you don’t do it usually
But Dear Lord
She’s dying to dance with my father again
Dad, a billion thank-yous are not enough to thank you for our incredible lives. You were the most incredible father and fantastic husband.
Thank you for making the World a better place to live in. Thank you for making sure that we knew how much we were loved every day of our lives.
I hope you know how much we loved you and continue to love you. We cherish our memories together and we are blessed that you were ours.
Farewell dad. Til we meet again.