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Obituary

His love of a lifetime was born on a ship

Stephen Contos married his wife five months after meeting her on a weeklong cruise. He died July 15 at age 89.

By MARTY CLEAR
Published July 22, 2005

STEPHEN J. CONTOS: 1915-2005

EAST TAMPA - Stephen Contos was nearly 60 years old when he met the love of his life.

He was living in Miami and had already been married and divorced when he took a weeklong Caribbean cruise. Early in the trip he spotted a woman named Victoria.

"He said it was love at first sight for him," Victoria Contos said. "It wasn't for me, but it happened pretty fast. By the time we got off the ship, I was in love for sure."

They married five months later, in December 1974, and spent the next 30 years together. Mr. Contos, whose health had been failing in recent years, died Friday (July 15, 2005) at age 89 of heart failure.

"He was my right hand, God bless him," his wife said. "He said, "When I met you, I found the family I had always wanted.' "

Mr. Contos was born in Mytelini, Greece, but moved to the New York City area with his family when he was 3. He worked with his father in the family's restaurant and later became a police officer.

He joined the Army when the United States entered World War II and had an active military career, serving in six major campaigns (Africa, Sicily, Salerno, Anzio Beachhead, Southern France and Germany).

He was working in an Army hospital in Sicily when Gen. George S. Patton visited. Mr. Contos witnessed the legendary incident in which Patton struck an injured enlisted man lying in his hospital bed.

For the rest of his life, one of his proudest possessions was a cap that identified him as a veteran of Anzio.

"He loved it when people would come up to him and shake his hand and say, "Thank you for serving our country,' " his wife said.

Another prized possession was a letter of thanks from the mother of another veteran. Her son had been shot in the chest and abdomen, and he was brought to the hospital in Sicily. Mr. Contos saved the soldier's life by allowing his blood to be transfused directly into the wounded soldier's veins.

After the war, Mr. Contos returned to his family and later moved with them to Miami, where he met and married his first wife.

He lived in Miami for 30 years and had planned to live out his life there. A cruise changed his plans.

"I lived in Tampa, and he lived in Miami, and he would come up and visit me every weekend he could," Victoria Contos said. "We married five months after we met. We were going to live in Miami, but we couldn't find a house that we could afford and that was good for my disabled son. I had a house here that was all set up and it was paid for so we lived here."

Mr. Contos and his wife's two children, daughter Diane Gentry and son Nelson DiSalvo, who was born with cerebral palsy and couldn't walk or talk, bonded instantly. They were adults before Mr. Contos came into their lives, but they both considered him their father. Mr. Contos was always happy to share the responsibility of caring for DiSalvo, who lived with his parents until his death in the 1980s.

In Tampa, Mr. Contos worked for the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office as a bailiff in the courtroom of Judge Harry Lee Coe.

Mr. Contos worked until he was 78 and was honored by the Hillsborough County Bar Association for his distinguished service. But retirement didn't suit him, and he soon returned to his old job as a volunteer, and continued until his health start failing a few years ago. He spent his last years in a nursing home.

"He was such a lovely man," his wife said. "He had a full life, and he never lost his sense of humor, never."

Besides his wife and daughter, Mr. Contos is survived by a granddaughter and a great-granddaughter.

[Last modified July 21, 2005, 08:56:10]