Obituary of Congressman Nicholas J. Mavroules

Congressman Nicholas J. Mavroules, 74, of Peabody, a congressman of the 6th district of Massachusetts for seven terms and former City of Peabody Mayor for six terms, died Thursday morning at the Salem Hospital after a short illness. He was a Peabody native born on November 1, 1929, the son of the late James and Stella (Zoubanea) Mavroules and resided here all his life. He was a graduate of Peabody High School in 1947 where in excelled in baseball and basketball and was scouted by the major leagues in Baseball. In 1949, he began working at Sylvania Lighting in the Boston St., Salem plant working his way up to personnel manager before his retirement in 1967. He first entered politics as a ward counselor in Peabody in 1958 and was elected Mayor of Peabody starting in Jan. 1967 serving for 6 terms. He was remembered for his work on the Industrial Park, Brooksby Farm and for helping the senior citizens with Project Mobility and the first Meals on Wheels Program. In 1978, he was elected as Congressman of the 6th congressional District of Massachusetts which he served for seven terms and served on the Armed Services Committee as intelligence chairman and was an advocate helping many local citizens and companies such as Raytheon, G.E. and other small companies in obtaining defense support and jobs. He headed the congressional investigation on the USS Iowa and was responsible for the recognition of the crew of the USS Pueblo. He had attended courses at Harvard University and Northeastern University and received an honorary doctorate from Salem State College, Merrimack College and Northeastern University. Congressman Mavroules was a recipient of the Forrester Award, the Ben Guerin award and was the Alpha Omega Man of the year. He was a member of St. Vasilios Church and the Men’ s Club, the Masonic Temple and recently was involved in the Golden Glove Boxing Program helping boxer Simeone Dunwell in trying out for the Olympics. The past few years, he was a consultant in political and defense contracts in Massachusetts. Congressmann Mavroulas was a man who knew his roots and was always available to his constituents. He is survived by his wife and best friend of 53 years of marriage, Mary (Silva) Mavroules ,3 daughters and their families, Debbie Mavroules and her children Nicholas and Kristen Mavroules, Gail Everson, her husband Wayne and their children, Matthew, Jonathan and Michael Everson, and Brenda and her husband Phil Brophy and their children, David and Alexis all of Peabody; a sister, Penelope and her husband James Scangas of Peabody, 3 brothers and 3 sisters-in-law, George and Alberta Mavroules, Charles and Joanne Mavroules and Alex Mavroules and his late wife Voula ,all of Peabody and Dorothy Mavroulas, wife of the late Michael Mavroules of Danvers, and several nieces, nephews, godchildren, cousins and many close friends. Funeral Services will be held on Tuesday at 11:00 a.m. at St. Vasilios Greek Orthodox Church, corner of Walnut and Paleologos St., Peabody. Burial in Cedar Grove Cemetery, Peabody. Visiting hours on Sunday from 4:00 until 8:00 PM and Monday from 2 - 4 and 6-9 P.M. at the St. Vasilios Educational Center, Paleologos St., Peabody. Relatives and friends kindly invited. Expressions of sympathy may be made to the Congressman Nicholas Mavroules Scholarship Fund, c/o Tammy Burton, Sovereign Bank, 535 Lowell St., Peabody, MA 01960 in his memory.