Memoirs of Peter Boudoures Chapter 16 Fr. Pythagoras Caravellas

Fr. Pythagoras Caravellas

In the meantime, in late 1929 or early 1930 our local priest from the Saint Sophia Church, Father Pythagoras Caravellas, became ill with tuberculosis. He was a fine, dedicated clergyman with a wife and three young daughters. A friend of mine from Sacramento, William Tryphon, came to visit me at the restaurant one day and asked me if I could do something for the priest. When I asked him what he would suggest, he explained that the priest was sick, that he didn't have a nickel, that he had to go to a sanitarium and that the Saint Sophia Church had no money or other means to take care of him.

We couldn't very well let a Greek priest go to the San Francisco County Hospital. He was a very sensitive person and he would not survive the ordeal. He told me it would be a crime to lose such a fine priest and to have him leave a wife and three children. Well, I told my friend that I would see what I could do. Maybe, I could start a drive and get commitments from a number of Greeks to pay so much a month for his care, but first let me talk to the doctors.

I went to see the doctor who had taken care of my partner George Paulson. He was head of the sanitarium in Belmont. I asked him to examine Father Caravellas, which he did. His report was that his condition was better than Paulson's. He was a much younger man and, if Paulson was able to recover in a year and a half, the priest should not be in the sanitarium for more than 6 months. There, he should regain his health and return to his church to resume preaching the gospel.

The doctor wanted $75.00 a week for a private room, which means more than $300.00 a month. An enormous sum in those days. For 6 months it would be $1,800.00 to $2,000.00. So I wrote out a list of names to be contributors, with myself at the top of the list. When I found enough contributors I went to Father Caravellas and told him, "Don't worry about anything, everything is arranged, you will go to the sanitarium and should be out in about 6 months". Father was taken to the hospital. Very few Greek-Americans had cars in those days, so I often drove his wife down there to visit him on weekends, as did my friends Peter Papageorge and Harry Apostolos.

Unfortunately, for him and for all of us, he was a very sensitive man, and he hated being supported by others. He often stated, "What have I done? Why has God punished me? I've never committed a sin in my life, why should I be in this condition?" The more we tried to explain to him that he should not worry, that it would delay his recovery, the less we were able to make him change his mind.

Time went by, not only 6 months, but a year. He was still there. While he had improved a little, he was still far from getting well. The doctor repeatedly told me, "Peter, no medicine, no science can help Father Pythagoras, he has to help himself. He has to change his mental attitude. Unless he does there isn't much we can do for him."

In the meantime the stock market crashed in 1929, and many people lost their fortunes. Business was bad all over. It became more and more difficult under those circumstances to collect money from people to make the $75.00 weekly payments to the sanitarium. I went to the doctor and was able to get him to lower the rate. It became evident that Father would be ill for many more months and that it would be impossible for me to carry on much longer. Some of the others contributing money had to drop out. I was able to convince others to help, but I could see we could not continue for much longer.

When the AHEPA Convention came to San Francisco, August 1931, Father was still in the sanitarium. As was the custom, the Archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Church in America was at the convention. He gave the invocation and officiated at the church services on Sunday. He had a two-fold purpose. One was to support the AHEPA and bring more visitors and delegates to the convention. The other was to help the church raise money to pay its expenses and to get supporters for the theological school in Pomfort, Connecticut. I figured that I should go to his Eminence, Archbishop Athenagoras, explain to him the situation, and ask for his help with Father Caravellas. More particularly, I wanted to ask for the Archdiocese to take over Father's support. It was really more their duty more than ours.

When I got near him I became bewildered. He appeared to be nearly 7 feet tall with a big beard, large eyes and was very holy looking. He kissed me on both cheeks before I told him who I was. "Your name is Peter Boudoures. I know what you've been doing for Father Caravellas. I want to see him. I want to visit him. I want to encourage him." We went together to the sanitarium together. It was a meeting I'll never forget.

When we returned to the hotel, he said to me, " My boy, you've done more than any one could have ever expected. This is the duty of the Archbishop. As soon as I return to New York I will make arrangements to take over the payments for the welfare and care of Father Caravellas in the sanitarium." I told His Eminence that I still had some money in the treasury, that there were still a few people who were donating money and that it may be two or three months before I would need his help. I told him that I would give him thirty days notice so that he would be prepared to start making payments.

When the Archbishop left for New York it was August 24, l931. On October first, I wrote to him and said, "Your Eminence, I would like for you to arrange to make payments beginning November first." We had enough money to make the payments up to the end of October. I contacted the sanitarium and asked them to send the bills to the Archdiocese, beginning November first. They did, but unfortunately, for reasons unknown to me, no payments came. I imagine that the Archdiocese had financial problems. The good will was there but the money was not.

The Archbishop's optimism did not become a reality. One or two months went by, the bills were sent but no payments came back. Father was eventually taken out of the quarters that I had arranged for him, a single room, and placed in a double room to save on costs. I wrote to the Archbishop and received no answer. I wired and I received no answer.

Time went by and it was approximately March of 1932 when the doctor said to me "Peter, I've had it. This is not a charitable institution. We cannot afford to keep Father any longer and you have to make arrangements to take him to the San Francisco County Hospital, where they take care of patients of this nature."

My answer was that if we asked for Father to be moved we would sign his death warrant, and I told the doctor that if it was possible for me to arrange to raise the money I would gladly start again. But the Depression was getting worse and worse and money was very difficult to obtain.

So, I asked the doctor to be patient. I told him we were having a national convention in August, only 3 months away, that the Archbishop would be there and I will get some answers. I felt that the Archbishop meant it when he said that he would pay the sanitarium bills but that he must have some problem raising the money. I went to the convention in Baltimore Maryland and talked to his Eminence about the matter. He expressed his regrets. I told him that the sanitarium would settle for half of what was owed. He said that when he returned to New York he would make the payment. Well, after two or three months some money started coming, not all, but a little at a time. Though it wasn't much, the doctor couldn't very well throw Father out, yet he was very displeased.

Father Caravellas learned of these difficulties and his sensitive feelings made his condition worse and eventually he passed away. He left a wife and three daughters. This was my first experience in doing philanthropic work, something that I was delighted to do. I have only one regret, that I was not in a position either alone or with others to afford to give him proper care for a while longer. He might have been able to regain his health and he might still be alive today.

(Editors note: Sixty-five years later Fr. Caravellas is still fondly remembered by the old-time Greeks of San Francisco as a kind, dedicated, intelligent and scholarly priest. He was born in 1890 in Karlovassi, Samos, at that time still part of the Ottoman Empire. He studied in Athens, first at The Seminary for the purpose of entering the priesthood, and later, when he changed his mind, he entered the University of Athens where he earned his degree and received his teaching credential. He came to the United States in 1911 and went to Middleboro, Massachusetts, where he joined his two brothers. They were in the restaurant business and offered to bring him into the business, but by that time he felt that he wanted to become a physician. He entered Harvard School of Medicine and got his medical degree in June of 1917. In November 1917 he married Evangelia Constantine, from Zakinthos, with whom he had three daughters. He practiced medicine for a couple years, but in his heart he yearned to serve God. Sometime around 1921 he was ordained as a priest in the Orthodox Church and was subsequently hired by the St Sophia Community in San Francisco. In 1924 he was re-hired, in writing, at a salary of $200.00 a month, payable in gold! He rarely received his allotted salary.

When he first arrived in San Francisco, and while a priest, he enrolled at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley and he graduated in 1927 with a doctorate in religion. His subsequent bout with tuberculosis and pre-mature death was a great loss to the Greek Community. He was progressive, dedicated, and devoted to his Church. In his love for learning, his tolerance and his broad scope of understanding he was ahead of his time. It's easy to understand why persons such as Peter Boudoures offered to help him.)