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Beloved Youngstown attorney remembered
SHERRY KARABIN
Legal News Reporter
Published: June 25, 2015
Family, faith, tradition and the law, all key components that defined the life of longtime attorney and Boardman resident George C. Economus.
Economus passed away on June 5 at the age of 78.
“I always looked up to George,” said his younger brother Peter C. Economus, a visiting U.S. District Court Judge in the Southern District of Ohio. “George had a great personality. He was a very warm person with a large capacity for friendship. I loved him very much.”
“I am deeply saddened by George’s loss as is the entire legal community,” said attorney William Carnie, Economus’ longtime friend and colleague. “I’ve known George ever since fifth grade when I moved to Boardman. We became instant friends and we were best friends all of our lives, personally and professionally.”
Born on June 18, 1936 in Washington, D.C. to parents Constantine and Pipitsa, he was the eldest of their two sons.
Not long after his birth, Economus’ parents moved to Boardman and his father started a law practice in Youngstown.
About seven years later, Peter was born and the two brothers grew up together in the Boardman community.
“We were extremely close despite our age difference,” said Peter. “I became friends with his friends.”
“In high school, George and I played football together until he suffered a severe knee injury,” said Carnie.
After graduating from Boardman High School, Economus attended Case Western Reserve University (then Western Reserve). He received his juris doctor from Ohio Northern University College of Law and went into practice with his father in 1964. The firm then became known as Economus & Economus.
“George was always planning on becoming a lawyer,” said Peter. “He was bitten by the bug at a young age. In my case, it took time.”
Peter said his brother handled mostly personal injury, domestic relations, business and probate matters.
“After dad passed away in 1993, he became a solo practitioner,” said Peter. “He rented space with two other lawyers but he always remained independent.
“Clients liked him and he maintained a good practice. He was easy going but attentive to client needs.”
In the early 2000s, Carnie said he worked with Economus in his Youngstown office, serving as a part-time associate.
“In terms of work, he always sought a mutual solution in legal matters rather than having a drawn out legal battle in the courtroom,” said Carnie. “He was the epitome of professional integrity and will be deeply missed by all.”
Economus was a longtime member of the Ohio State and The Mahoning County bar associations and a former treasurer of The Mahoning County Bar Association Foundation.
“I met George when I was a bailiff for Judge Clyde Osborne,” said Mahoning County Court of Common Pleas Judge R. Scott Krichbaum. “He was a lawyer at the time, so we go back to about 1975.
“I also knew his younger brother, Pete, and his father Gus (Constantine) very well. His father was a very well known lawyer in Youngstown.
“The three of them would come by the courthouse and give the bailiffs candy at Christmas time. It was kind of a custom back then and a lot of lawyers in town used to do that.”
When it came to choosing a wife, Peter said his brother stayed true to tradition, opting to marry a Greek woman.
“Both of our parents were Greek immigrants,” said Peter. “They still spoke Greek at home and my brother and I learned Greek. My brother also attended Greek school at our church. Religion and tradition were both very important in his life.”
Economus was a lifelong member of St. John The Forerunner Greek Orthodox Church in Boardman, where he served on the parish council.
“George married Thalia Kyriakides, the daughter of the well known Dr. Anastasios Kyriakides in Akron,” said Peter. “He was introduced to Thalia by her uncle who lived in Youngstown.”
The couple had three children, Constantine, Katherine and Basil. Thalia later passed away from cancer.
Carnie said he was a groomsman in Economus’ first wedding to Thalia.
“George was a great father, all three of his children have grown up and done well. One boy is an attorney like his father and the other is a doctor,” said Carnie.
“George was a great family man,” said Magistrate Judge George Limbert of the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of Ohio. “He was very friendly.
“I knew him when we were children. He was older than I was,” said Magistrate Judge Limbert. “Our parents were good friends. We would attend family outings together. My dad and his dad came from the same Greek village.”
Peter said about eight years ago his brother got remarried. “Judy was not Greek but she was also a widow and had been married to a Greek man. She is a wonderful woman and was the best thing that happened to him.”
“I knew George for many years from a business point and socially,” said Judy, Economus’ second wife.
“After my first husband died, my family suggested I see a lawyer and I went to see George. We became friends instantly. We liked the same things. We loved to travel. I liked the arts and he liked the arts. George was a private, quiet, classy guy.”
Judy said they dated for about two and a half years before getting married on July 6 2007.
“Our time together was brief, but they were the most beautiful years of my life. George told me the same thing. I am so fortunate,” said Judy. “There are people married 50 years who did not have what he and I had.”
Judge Krichbaum said Economus was always involved in some type of service work in which he used his “time and talent for a good cause.
“I remember him ringing the Salvation Army bells,” said Judge Krichbaum.
Economus was on the Mahoning County Children Services, Beeghly Oaks and Western Reserve Health Services boards. He was a member of the Order of AHEPA (American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association), Pan Arcadian Federation, Curbstone Coaches, the Youngstown Country Club, YMCA, Wick Lodge No. 481 F&AM, St. Johns Commandery No. 20 and the Youngstown Symphony Society.
In addition, Economus served in the Ohio National Guard and Army Reserve.
“When I first ran for office, George and I ran into each other,” said Judge Krichbaum. He was interested in why I was running for judge and wanted to know how his brother Pete and I would get along on the bench. After I assured him we would do just fine, he was happy to give me a contribution.
“George was one of those people if you met and learned he was a lawyer would make you think well of lawyers.”
Carnie said Economus was extremely loyal to Boardman, serving on the Boardman Park Board of Commissioners for 21 years. He was also a former president of both the Boardman Kiwanis Club and the Boardman Booster Club.
In 1995, the Boardman Boosters inducted Economus into the Hall of Fame.
“For about 20 years, George was the announcer for Boardman High School’s football games,” said Carnie.
Peter said his brother loved sports. “Aside from playing football in high school, George played a lot of golf and was also a big fan of the Ohio State Buckeyes, Cleveland Browns and Cleveland Indians.
“We went to many sporting events together as well as doing a lot of other things,” Peter said. “I have a lot of good memories.”
“I have many happy memories of the time we spent together,” said Carnie, now a part-time solo estate planning and probate practitioner in Youngstown. “I was close with his entire family. When we were older, he and I were part of a group that would meet at Courtney’s Restaurant in Youngstown on the weekends. Back then it was the closest restaurant to Boardman and Boardman was mostly residential.
“George was a gentle, humble and compassionate man,” said Carnie. “There was always a smile on his face. It did not matter who you were, he was always glad to see you.
“He was fiercely loyal to his family, friends and clients,” Carnie said. “He was the kind of guy you liked to be around.”
Economus was laid to rest on June 8 at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Boardman.
He is survived by his wife, Judith Varveris Economus; three children, Dr. Constantine Economus (Renae) of Canfield, Katherine (Robert) Soule of Asheville, North Carolina and attorney Basil (Bethany) Economus of Columbus; a stepdaughter, Rhonda Ann Kempe; grandchildren Constance and Thalia Economus, Anastasia, Mary-O, William and Thalia Soule, George, Mimi and Oliver Economus; stepgrandchildren, Jacob and Jaime Kempe; brother Judge Peter (Marie) Economus; brother-in-law Herodotus (Louise) Kyriakides and several nieces and a nephew.
He was preceded in death by his parents, his first wife, Thalia Kyriakides Economus and her parents, Dr. Anastasios and Katherine Kyriakides.