Prodromos Galatalis (8 Apr 1970 - 28 Apr 2021)
Donate in memory of
ProdromosThe Pulmonary Fibrosis Trust
Funeral Director
In loving memory of Prodromos Galatalis who sadly passed away on 28th April 2021. Prodromos was born in Port Elizabeth on 8th April 1970 to Anna and Costa Galatalis and younger brother to his sister, Angelica. The family were part of the vibrant Greek community in Port Elizabeth. Prodromos attended Parsons Hill Primary School during this time. His family moved to Thessaloniki, Greece in the late 70's which Prodromos really enjoyed and had very fond memories of the family and friends that he met and spent time with there. In 1981 his family returned to Port Elizabeth and he attended Summerwood Primary School and later Pearson High School. It was during this time that Prodromos was nicknamed Battlestar Galactica by a teacher who had a bit of trouble pronouncing his full name and surname. This name stuck with all his classmates too with it evolving to Battlestar and Bats. Prodromos always spoke extremely fondly of his school days spent in the Humewood and Summerstrand area with his friends, with so many stories of their pursuits. At high school, Prodromos became interested in rugby and with his big build soon made an impression and was part one of the best ever Pearson first teams in 1988 - playing prop with his godbrother, Bambo who also played in the front row.
Prodromos met his wife to be, Gaye, in 1989 when they were both in matric. After completing matric, he spent two months in Greece reconnecting with his friends that he had met when he was younger and also meeting his cousin, Marina, from Australia whom he had never met. Prodromos had such a wonderful time in Greece over those two months. After returning to SA, he went on to study and completed a Marketing Management Course before embarking on a year of compulsory national service in the SA Defence force (2nd last intake before conscription was scrapped in South Africa), being seconded to Bloemfontein, Ladysmith KZN, George and ended up working in the Marketing Department in the SA Defence Stores in Pretoria for the remainder of his national service.
After completing his military service, Prodromos headed overseas with friends to London where Gaye joined him six months later. During this time, Prodromos, worked in the building trade and in a house cleaning business in London while also taking the opportunity to be able to travel in Europe. It was always his dream to travel to the Greek islands and this dream was realised in 1994 when he and Gaye packed up backpacks and headed to the Greek islands for 10 weeks of summer. There was no prior plan, it was just go with the flow and over 12 islands were visited during this time. This was definitely one of the best holidays that Prodromos and Gaye ever had!
After a couple more years in London, working and travelling (including another trip to Greece with his parents in 1995), Prodromos and Gaye decided to head back to Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Prodromos went back ahead of Gaye and got settled workwise by buying a share in the Total Garage on the Humewood Beachfront. Gaye and Prodromos celebrated their engagement in 1997 and were married in August 1999 in both the St Mary’s Anglican Church and the Greek Orthodox Church on the same unseasonably hot afternoon.
In 2000 they moved into their own home in Nathan Road, Broadwood and in April 2002, Prodromos announced to his Dad and Mom that Gaye was pregnant with a son which was a week before his Dad, Costa, sadly passed away. Prodromos was so proud when his son, Costa was born in December 2002 and his daughter, Alexia was born in March 2005. He was a devoted and hands on Dad every step of the way and very proud of their achievements.
After a family holiday to the UK and Cyprus in 2015 and worrying about the economic future of the South Africa, the family along with his mom, Anna, decided to move to the UK to join Kayleeann and Tony already in the UK, which happened in 2018 with Prodromos paving the way for the rest of the family back in South Africa to join him in Taunton, Somerset where he was enjoying his new role as a Store Manager with the Euro Garages Group.
Prodromos, has left the most incredible legacy of love and kindness in his family’s lives and to everyone that has come into his life. His genuine love of people, living life to the fullest and proactively and gladly organizing so many outings, get-togethers, weekends away and opportunities for memories to be made for so many is unparalleled. His greatest wish was for his now teenage children to share his love of Greece and his dream of touring Greece with them was realised in the summer of 2019 when they spent three glorious weeks touring the Ionian islands. Prodromos’s aim was to retire to Greece one day and even though he is no longer with us, he will soon be able to fly free amidst the azure Aegean seas and skies - in our hearts forever.
Due to current Covid restrictions, a Service at the Taunton Crematorium Chapel and tea afterwards at Living Light Church, Gipsy Lane, Bishops Hull TA1 5LQ for invited guests, will be held on Tuesday, 25th May at 11:30 GMT, for those wishing to join the service online, you may do so at the time of the service or for up to 28 days following. please visit:
https://www.obitus.com/index.php?page=home (copy and paste the link to your browser and login with details below)
USERNAME ruhu2050
PASSWORD 504222
We would welcome your messages with your memories of Prodromos as well any photos you may want to share on the online obituary. You can view the obituary by clicking on the link below.
Comments