Mark Nicolaides, 92, of Palm Beach, Florida passed away at home July 21, only 18 days after his wife succumbed to COVID-19. He, too, had tested positive.
Mark was born Nov. 1, 1927 in New York City to John and Athanasia Nicolaides, immigrants from Cyprus, and he grew up in Astoria, Queens and Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood. He was educated in the New York City public school system and briefly in Cyprus. Mr. Nicolaides graduated from Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan.
Upon graduating, he enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1945 and earned the rank of corporal. He was trained as an expert marksman. Corporal Nicolaides was stationed in Heidelberg, Germany as a member of the U. S. peacekeeping forces. Upon his discharge from the Army he returned to New York City and attended New York University to earn his undergraduate degree. He went on to Brooklyn Law School and earned his Juris Doctorate degree.
Mark’s parents had arranged a marriage for him in their homeland. After law school he dutifully traveled to visit family and meet his intended. However, he broke with tradition when he encountered Elia Mirmidonis at a cousin’s party with whom he fell head over heels in love. At that party he asked Elia to come back to America and to become his wife. After a 28-day courtship the two were married in Famagusta, Cyprus. Their marriage and love were destined to last more than 60 years.
The new Mr. and Mrs. Nicolaides returned to the U.S. and settled in Astoria, Queens. Mark began his legal career working for the Kislak real estate concern in Union. After years of commuting from Queens to New Jersey, Mr. Nicolaides moved his new, young family to Plainfield. Mark hung out his own shingle in 1966 as a sole practitioner of law in the Garden State and welcomed his second son to the family.
As a young lawyer, Nicolaides cut his teeth at Kislak where he was mentored and guided by many aspiring real estate professionals. Mark was a bright and engaging legal mind. People enjoyed his jovial and quick wit. As he gained further expertise in the real estate business, Mr. Nicolaides moved his office to Watchung. He made friends easily and established rewarding business relationships while contracting as legal advisor to Larson Mortgage Company in Plainfield, Forman Mortgage in Irvington and later Chase Manhattan Mortgage in Morristown.
He and Elia were busy raising their two sons in Warren Township when Turkey invaded Cyprus in 1974. As that war unfolded, Mr. and Mrs. Nicolaides worked tirelessly to bring their family members to the United States as refugees. Their home was always open and soon was filled with refugee members of their extended family. His eldest son, John Paul said, “It was an interesting time in our lives when my brother and I would come home from school and find people we’d never met staying in our bedrooms.”
“Family was everything to my parents and if it wasn’t for their efforts to save our aunts, uncles and cousins during that war, we wouldn’t have the strong familial bonds we now enjoy with the next generation,” John Paul added.
Mark’s business associates revered him as an honest and forthright attorney. He was an expert legal mind in the real estate field. He maintained professional relationships long after he retired in 1998.
Mark and Elia moved to Palm Beach, Florida permanently in 1998 and forged new friendships in the Cove Condominium community. They enjoyed entertaining and spending time at the pool and on the ocean. They enjoyed sharing holidays and Sunday dinners with family members who also had retired to Florida.
He enjoyed phone conversations and especially visits from his sons, granddaughters, nieces and nephews and their families as well.
He was predeceased by his parents and his brother Stellios. Mr. Nicolaides was recently widowed when his beloved wife, Elia, died July 3 in Palm Beach.
He is survived by his sons, John Paul Nicolaides and his spouse Councilman Edward J. Zipprich of Red Bank and Christopher Nicolaides of Somerville; three granddaughters, Mary Cate Zipprich of Somerville, Massachusetts, Willow Nicolaides of Olympia, Washington and Nikita Nicolaides of Vero Beach, Florida; his sister-in-law Androulla Vrahimis of Lake Worth, Florida; many nieces and nephews; great-nieces and nephews; and great-great-nieces and nephews.
A joint celebration of life will take place for Mark and Elia after the COVID-19 pandemic allows for healthy and safe gathering.
Neptune Society, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, provided cremation services.
The article originally appeared in the July 30 – August 5, 2020 print edition of The Two River Times.
