Recognizing Dr. Stephen Pappas

Floor Speech

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Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and honor the life and legacy of Dr. Stephen Pappas. A lifelong Washingtonian, Stephen was born in 1930 to the late Steve and Georgia Pappas and was a proud graduate of Western High followed by his ophthalmology residency at Episcopal Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital. In 1961, Dr. Pappas completed his clinical fellowship in the retina service at Harvard's teaching hospital, Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary, in Boston. He returned to Washington as the first formally fellowship-trained retina specialist in the region. A deeply patriotic American, Dr. Pappas was honored to serve as Chief of Ophthalmology at the Naval Dispensary in Washington, D.C. from 1961 to 1963, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. He later served as a civilian consultant at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda from 1968 to 1976. In 1963, he founded his solo ophthalmology practice, providing compassionate, state-of-the- art care. In 1978, he moved his growing practice, Retina Consultants, from the District to Bethesda. One of the founding members of the Washington Hospital Center Retina Clinic, he supervised and trained generations of ophthalmology residents as a volunteer from 1963 to 1994. He was also assistant clinical professor in Ophthalmology at both GWU and Georgetown. He continued to value his professional relationships with mentors, peers, and mentees for his entire career and beyond. His distinguished career was marked by many local and national accolades. Despite these remarkable professional achievements, Dr. Pappas will most be remembered as a man of faith who was truly devoted to his beloved wife of 62 years, Virginia (Ginny) Nicoludis Pappas, as an incredible father to Dr. Stephen Pappas, Jr. (Michelle) and Adrienne Kalavritinos (Jack), and as a loving papou to his four grandchildren: John, Analiese, Mark, and Alexander. He was an active, early member of the St George Greek Orthodox Church in Bethesda, MD. Faith, family and friends were paramount in his life. His remarkable ability to connect through his warmth, sense of humor, and genuine caring will be remembered by all who knew him. May his memory be eternal.

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