Discovery: an Amazing Family Odyssey

L to R: Shuka, Vangele, Cosmachi, Ahilea, Licha (Nick) Fatsy (missing: Thanas)

By Rebecca M. Townsend

A first cousin, twice removed, “was a true modern day hero,” and I was amazed to learn more about him. My husband Tom is the genealogist in our family, and, having documented his own family thoroughly, took on the challenge of looking into my side–a bit more complicated! Tom was documenting names and important dates and other facts about family members, filling in details from publicly available documents and those through ancestry websites. Among the materials he refers to are obituaries.

My father, John W. Custer, Ed.D., was the first of our family to be born in the United States. His parents, Harold J. Custer (born Jani Cinako) and his wife, Esther, each immigrated here, from Albania and Greece, respectively. Both ethnic Aromanians, they met and married each other by choice (itself a story for another day). My grandmother’s birth name was Anastasia Fatsy; her father was Peter Vangel Kusma Fatsy, born in 1879 in Almyros, Magnisia, Thessalia. There’s a wonderful photo of him, his father Cosmachi K. Fatsis, with some of his brothers, standing in suits, holding an American flag.

He had two sisters, Sophia (Fatsy) Cashavelly, and Jenny (Fatsy) Costulas, and in the photo were brothers Ahilea, Shuka, and Licha (“Nick”). One brother was missing: I only knew of him as Thanas.

When my husband did some more digging online, he learned Anastasios K. “Thanas” Fatsy of Blackstone, Massachusetts married Chrysoula Kourdista Makris. Together they had four children, with three born in California. Helen (m. Bekas) was born January 17, 1915 in San Francisco. Pantelis Anastasios was born June 11, 1916, in Los Angeles. Katina (m. Balafas) was born August 11, 1917 in San Jose. Sadly, Thanas would not live to see the birth of their fourth child, Olga, born February 3, 1919 in Blackstone, MA, as he died just months earlier, on November 13, 1918, due to influenza.

The sisters married and began families of their own. Helen (d. Sept. 16, 1978) married John Bekas and had a son, Christos Bekas. Katina (d. Dec. 4, 1993) married Dimitrios Balafas; they had a daughter, Maria D. Balafas (b.1945). Olga (d. Mar. 19, 2008), who married George Dimitri Kiosse, had four children: Costandina (“Connie”), James, Dorothy Christine, and Anastas (“Tassie”). Connie Kiosse, active in the Women’s Liberation Movement (in researching this, we had a wonderful conversation; more on her another time, too!).

While my grandmother spelled her last name Fatsy, another way of spelling it is Fatsis. This is how Pantelis Anastasios spelled his surname. He married Kalliroe Batalas on May 12, 1963. They had four children: Eleni P., Chrysoula P., Nektarios P., and Anastasios P.

Pantelis’s obituary is one that provided a wealth of information–not just about him as a man, but his actions as a hero. It’s worth a read: Fr. Panteleimon Fatsis – Greek Orthodox Retired Clergy Association – Orthodox Church (also published here Panteleimon Fatsis Obituary (2013) – Bethlehem, PA – Morning Call). I cannot do it greater justice here.

In my own search for more information, I have contacted the Center for Hellenic Studies, the  “Paideia Center” at University of Connecticut, who put me in touch with his daughter Eleni. When the weather warms, we are planning to meet. I am excited to begin learning more!

April 1, 2025