George
Demetrios Harahlianis was the middle of
three sons born 23 Apr 1889, in Evia, Orion, Greece. His father was a teacher in
Greece. "His
older brother was named Steve. The younger brother was named Gus." [*HHD]
"They worked in the silver mines in Greece to send their brother Gus to this
country. Then my Dad and Steve came. Gus got a restaurant in Stony Island on
the south side of Chicago." [*HHD]
"My father went back to the
old country twice. The first time he fought in the war with Greece against
Turkey. He earned many medals. Dominique had all the medals that my Dad won
in the war, but she was robbed and they were all stolen." [*HHD]
"When he came back, he worked in Gus’ restaurant. Then my Dad returned to
Greece again, then came back here." [*HHD]
"In 1926, Gus Harris opened his restaurant at Kedsie and Irving Park in Chicago, IL. Gus lived at 47th and Calumet in Chicago, IL. Gus’s three boys all went into the service in WWII. One was a lieutenant, a bombardier, never saw action. The other two were in the Navy doing paperwork in Chicago." [*HHD]
George met Anna PREVENAS while she was working in Gus Harris' restaurant. They were married in March, 1926. Their only child, Helen, was born in January, 1927.
"I guess they bought the restaurant on Fullerton Avenue. From Fullerton, they went to Rogers Park and bought a restaurant. This was in 1941." [*HHD]
George
Demetrios Harahlianis became a US citizen 08 Dec 1927. He lived at 329 East
47th Street, Chicago, Illinois.
The
1930 census record shows he was the head of the household, which included
his wife, Anna, his daughter, Helen, as well as his brother, Steve, and
brother-in-law, James Prevenas. George was the owner of a restaurant.
"Our father sold the place in LaGrange. So we went to work waiting
tables. I worked for George Harris. He was so nasty to me sometimes,
probably because I was always backing up Anna. In those days bosses were
never good to employees, especially relatives. We started working at 7:00 in
the morning. Maybe around 11:00 we were allowed to have something to eat.
George worked in the kitchen. Most of the girls would ask for a scrambled
egg & toast or something and he would make it for them. But if I would ask
for something, he would make it but then throw it up there at me. As if I
had a lot of guts to ask for something." [*HPT]
"The little washroom
toilet was right next to the stove and dishwashing sink. When George Harris
would come out of the washroom he would only wash one hand, and that always
struck me as being so funny!" [*HPT]
This
1940
census notation may be regarding George, Anna, and Helen Harris. Does anyone know
where they lived in 1940. Was it on Ridgeway in Chicago?
George's
WWII draft registration card gives his home address as 1338 Farwell Avenue,
Chicago, and his restaurant address as 1416 Morse Avenue, Chicago. The
business phone had a Rogers Park number.
"After I was married, my parents
separated." [*HHD]
Steve died, then Gus died, then George died. At age
79, George Demetrios Harris died from a
stroke in February 1968 while living with his daughter’s family in Lake
Bluff, Lake County, Illinois.
[*HHD Helen Harris Dahle, *HPT Helen Prevenas Thein]
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