The Greek Community in New Brunswick

While people of Greek descent do live in other parts of New Brunswick, particularly in the cities of Fredericton and Moncton, the largest Greek community in the province is in Saint John. A picture of Greek Canadian life in Saint John about 1950 reveals the usual pattern of small stores, cafes, and restaurants. For many years Michael Marcus (Mercuriou) was called the “Old Man” of the Greeks in the city, for he had arrived there in 1905. He was also known as “Dr. Asclepios” [Asclepios is the Greek god of medicine] because of his knowledge and skill with herbs. Mr. Marcus was the long-time president of the Greek Orthodox community in Saint John.

Other Greek names from Saint John in the mid twentieth century include Harry Stevenson ( Charalambos Stavrakos), George Stevenson, and Peter Pappas who were co-owners of the Riviera Restaurant on Charlotte Street. Although Harry Stevenson had been a lawyer in Greece, when he arrived in Saint John in 1926, he left law behind him. Harry Stevenson was the principal force in organizing New Brunswick’s help to Greece during the time of World War II and the subsequent Civil War. He was chair of the local chapter of the Greek War Relief Fund, as well as liaison officer between the headquarters of that Fund in Montreal and the Swedish boats sailing from the port of Saint John with relief supplies for Greece.

The author was very pleased when Mr. George Maniatis, one of the oldest, if not the oldest, member of the Greek community in Saint John, New Brunswick agreed to an interview. Mr. Maniatis’ life is both interesting in itself, and illustrative of the success Greek people in New Brunswick have made of their lives. George Maniatis was one of the founding members of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox’ Church in Saint John in the 1950s. Other Greek Canadians in the city always say, “Ask George, he knows everything about our community.”

Like many Nova Scotian Greeks, George Maniatis’ home is in Xerocampi in the southern Peloponnese. He had been studying law at the University of Athens in the 1940s, but decided to leave Greece late in 1946, because he felt in was no longer safe for him to stay in the country. Leaving Greece in a hurry, he went on a vessel which first sailed to a Black Sea port in Russia, before crossing the Atlantic to Baltimore, Maryland. After a brief stay in the United States, his Uncle Harry Stevenson in Bangor, Maine picked up young George.

George Maniatis spent his initial months in Canada studying English with a retired teacher. He had intended to go on with his interrupted legal studies, but when his cousin, George Stevenson, died in 1948, he was needed to help run the Riviera Restaurant. After a time at a business college, he became manager of the Riviera in 1949, and a partner in the business in 1953. He also operated the Reversing Falls Restaurant (a May to September operation) for thirty-eight years, and the dining room of the White House Lodge between 1965 and 1975. In the 1950s George Maniatis brought several Greeks to Canada to work in the Riviera. They progressed from dishwashers to cooks, and then went on to open their own businesses, often other restaurants. Mr. Maniatis was active in the Restaurant Association of New Brunswick, and served as president of that Association for several years. He was also a vice-president and a national director of the Canadian Restaurant Association.

From the early years of his life in Canada George Maniatis made St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church a major part of his life. To build the church the Greek community in Saint John raised money locally in New Brunswick, and from friends and relatives in the Greek communities of Halifax and Montreal. Mr. Maniatis said, “Although this is the smallest Greek Orthodox community in Canada, we have our own church and a house for our priest. We are self-supporting. Why is the community here so successful? In the old days it was so difficult to exercise our religion and the people wanted their own church. Although there were only about forty Greek people, including the kids, when I arrived in Saint John, we all worked together. The Canadian people knew the Greeks- they had a very good record in business-and they helped with donations of money and materials. From the beginning people treated us like Canadians.”

Although he retired in 1994, George Maniatis maintains a busy life. He travels to Greece every year to visit with a good friend from his boyhood years. Never married himself, he is very proud of his nephews, his niece, and their families. One nephew, Dino Pappas, is a senior lawyer in Saint John, and one of his sons is a lawyer. So the family’s interest in law goes on to the next generations.

Mr. Maniatis is concerned about the future of the Greek language in New Brunswick. “It’s important to have a priest who speaks both Greek and English. The priest’s English can bring people in, and then we give them Greek in the church.” George Maniatis still serves on the Church Council at St. Nicholas. “I am so pleased that our younger men are going on the Council and being active there. I am always available if anyone wants advice or help.”

John Likourgiotis is one of those young men who have been elected to St. Nicholas Church Council. Born in Saint John, he and his family recently returned to the city, after his successful career with Northern Telecom in Toronto. John and his wife brought their children to Saint John because they wanted a warm, family environment around them. In the interview John said: “Greek families are very close; the family is probably the centre of each person.”

Speaking about being both Canadian and Greek, John said: “The idea of a Canadian identity is very important to me. I’m Canadian first and foremost. This country has been good to my family and me. I look at myself as a Canadian with a Greek heart. It means I fit into this society. But I do so carrying some baggage. I have certain values and expectations which are uniquely Greek. Most Greeks immigrated to Canada because they were motivated to succeed. The drive which brought them here has propelled them to excel in business, or whatever they do. That’s been passed on to the next generation. There is a lot of pressure to make sure that we are seen as contributing to the Canadian community.”

John went on: “It’s hard to maintain the Greek language. I was in Toronto for ten years, and had few contacts with the Greeks there. It’s a little better here- I speak Greek daily with my dad. The church is very important. It is the place, which keeps the community together, where we and the children interact with others who value the Greek spirit. It is the basis of maintaining our Greek culture.” John Likourgiotis regularly attends St. Nicholas Church, even though he has to work every second Sunday. He is married to a non-Greek who is a Roman Catholic, and the couple also participates in the life of that church.

While he is personally committed to promoting the Greek community in any way he can, John Likourgiotis has some concerns for its future, “There aren’t a lot of young people in our community; many have moved away. Hopefully we can grow. If people are indifferent, and do not participate actively in the Greek Church and community, we will not survive. The church will have to increase its use of English. I can maintain our Greek values in English and pass them along to my family. Our children know some Greek words, and they have started to go to Greek School, but they will never be fluent in Greek. Somehow we must preserve the Greek values and the Greek community here, even if that means the use of the Greek language will probably diminish.”