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Fr. George Pallas

 

Fr. George Pallas, Protopresbyter

Fr. George was born on May 6, 1930 in Ano Dorion, Messinia, Greece.  He received his secondary education at the High School of Kyprarissia, attended the High Church Seminary in Patras, and completed his military service.  In 1956 he was ordained a deacon and later a priest.  Fr. George served parishes in Greece and in the Republic of Panama before immigrating to the United States in 1959.

His first parish in the U.S. was St. Elias the Prophet in Dubuque, Iowa.  Then in 1967, he moved to the parish of St. George in Des Moines, Iowa where he served until his retirement in 1996.  During his thirty-seven years of service to the Diocese of Chicago, Father was bestowed with the distinctions of Spiritual Father Confessor, Steward, and Protopresbyter.  Fr. George also served on the Archdiocesan Mixed Council.

He earned both a Bachelor of Arts (BA) and Master of Arts (MA) degrees in American Education from Loras College, in Dubuque.  He was awarded a lifetime certification by the State of Iowa for his studies in Pastoral Education and Clinical Pastoral Education along with Graduate Studies at Drake University in Des Moines.  While serving the parish in Des Moines, Fr. George also worked as a counselor, for several years, at Dowling Catholic High School, then at the Central Iowa Alcoholism Center, and finally for nineteen years at the United States Department of Veterans Affair’s Alcohol and Drug Dependency unit.

Fr. George is married to Presbytera Toula., who is also from Ano Dorion.  They have three children (Tasi, Dean and Vicki), one son-in-law (Evan), one daughter-in-law (Christina), and two grandsons (Nicholas and George Alexander).  In 1998, Father and Presbytera moved to Woodstock, Georgia.  While retired, Fr. George remains active at Holy Transfiguration both through the celebration of the Divine Liturgy and other Services, as well as the offering of his advice and guidance to the church’s various ministries.