Laconian Society of West Florida

Evie Alexopoulos

President

Evie grew up in Palm Harbor, Florida since the age of 10 and is the daughter of Nikolas Alexopoulos of Magoula, Sparti and Theoni Alexopoulos who both immigrated to Chicago from Greece. She is a graduate of Tarpon Springs High School where she was a 3 sport varsity athlete for Volleyball, Basketball, and Softball and went on to play NCAA Volleyball in college.

As a Spartan, Evie felt drawn to military service and entered The United States Military Academy, West Point, thanks to nominations from the Honorable Senator Bob Graham of Florida and The Honorable Congressman Michael Bilirakis. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree and commissioned as a Military Police Officer in the U.S. Army. She graduated from the Army Airborne School in Ft. Benning, GA, the Military Police Officer Basic Course in Ft. McClellan, AL, as well as the Sniper Leaders’ Course. She served in the Republic of Korea and Ft. Lewis, Washington where she commanded the installation Special Reaction Team (SWAT Team).

Evie went on to receive a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of South Florida and graduated from The Global Strategic Management Program at Harvard Business School in Cambridge, MA.

She spent 25 years in positions of increasing responsibility in Fortune 500 companies (Walmart, Brink’s, ReddyIce) including at the Director and Executive levels including Chief Operating Officer most recently. In addition, Evie has served on several boards for non-profit organizations including Vice President of the West Point Society of Richmond and Board Member of the Urban League of Broward County. She is also Mrs. Florida 2006 and represented our great state in the Mrs. America pageant in Tucson, Arizona.

Evie is married to Glen Chitty who is a former Navy Pilot, and they recently moved back to the area and live in New Port Richey. Their 4 adult children are Theoni, Nikolas (Niko), Alexandros (Alek), and Athena. They are blessed to have extensive family in the area including Evie’s mom, her two brothers (Grigoris and Athanasios), her sister (Eftihia), two aunts and one uncle (Emily Lares, Eleni and Zois Manolakos), and 4 first cousins (Dimitra, Evie, Spiro, and Fotini) and their families.

Niki Dino

Vice President

Niki immigrated to the U.S. from Greece 11 years ago and chose our beautiful Tampa Bay area as her new home.  She has worked in the food service industry for almost 10 years and has been supporting the Laconian society for over a decade.  Her culinary talents and organizational skills have helped create tens of thousands of extraordinary meals from the world famous Greek cuisine to serve our community.  Niki is married to Mr. Odysseus Ntinos, and they have two daughters. 

Elpida Lakiotis

2^nd Vice President

Elpida is from Peristeri, Laconia Greece.  She immigrated to the United States in 1971 to Boston, Massachusetts where she and her husband were in the restaurant business until 1984 when they moved to Florida.  Elpida continued in restaurant management for 23 years.  She and Panagioti have 2 daughters and a son and are blessed with 6 grandchildren.  Elpida has selflessly served the Laconian Society of West Florida since 1986 and will bring much needed continuity to the Board of Directors.   

Vasiliki Booth

Secretary

Vasiliky hails from Pakia, Molaous Lakonia and immigrated to Canada in 1957.  She went from Montreal to Ontario and settled in a small town called Sturgeon Falls.  She was married and immigrated to the US in 1962.  Vasiliky served as a Member of the Board of Directors for the Laconian Society and now moves into the critical Officer role of Secretary to ensure continuous smooth running operations and communication to our members. 

Joanna Lambrianakos Patterson

Assistant Secretary

Joanna was born in New York and is the eldest daughter of Vasili and Dimitra Lambrianakos who immigrated from Arna, Sparti and Tripoli, Greece.  In 1982, her family, including her younger sisters, Georgia and Elaina moved to Clearwater where they have resided since.  Joanna graduated from Countryside High School and went on to receive a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the University of South Florida.  Joanna has worked in various senior positions including assistant controller in the accounting field at Chase Bank, SunBank, Midland Mortgage, and H&R Block.  She has served on the board holding positions as President and Treasurer of the non-profit organizations of PTA at Tarpon Springs Fundamental Elementary and Palm Harbor University IB Programs, while raising her two daughters, Demetra (25) and Iliana (21).  Joanna is married to Phillip Patterson, who has held various financial executive positions at Fortune 500 companies.  After working in the corporate field, the couple decided to become small business owners.  They currently own numerous Supercuts hair salons through Pinellas, Hillsborough and Hernando county.  Joanna is proud to follow in her parents’ footsteps in service to the Laconian Society of West Florida.

Jimmy Tsangaris

Treasurer

Dimitri (Jimmy) was born in a small village next to Monemvasia.  His family, including his parents and sister, immigrated to the United States in 1970 through New York.  Dimitri spent over 20 years in food service delivery, and upon retiring, moved to Florida in 2017 to enjoy our wonderful community and weather!  Dimitri was unanimously elected to another term as treasurer and brings critical continuity to the Laconian Society Board of Directors.

Debbie Nicklow

Assistant Treasurer

Debbie was born in Chicago to Peter and Emily Lares who immigrated to the U.S. from Magoula, Sparti.  Her family, including her younger sister, Evie, moved to Dunedin in 1978.  Debbie graduated from Dunedin High School and went on to receive a Bachelor’s degree from the University of South Florida and became a certified Optician for major optical corporations in the Tampa Bay area.  In addition to her extensive business management in the restaurant industry, Debbie has also served as the Director of Youth Ministries for the Hope and Joy Youth at St. John’s Church as well as a Sunday School teacher.  She is married to Tom Nicklow, a veteran air traffic controller, and they have two daughters, Emily (17) and Maria (15), and they live in Odessa. 

Harris Iatropoulos

Board Member – Grievance Committee

Harris Iatropoulos was born in Asopo, Laconia and came to Montreal, Canada in 1959. Harris started with repairing sewing machines with his brother, George.  A couple of years later, Harris opened his own business in the garment industry and was very successful. Harris married  Catherine Trichas, who was born in Sykea, Laconia.  They live in Tarpon Springs since 1995 as snowbirds from Canada.  Harris has been  serving the Laconian Society of West Florida for 20 years and is also Regional Vice-President of the Pan-Laconian Federation of U.S.A. & Canada for the Province of Quebec.

Dimitris Xipoleas

Board Member

Dimitri is from Kiparisi, Laconia.  He came to the United States in 1968 via New York.  Dimitri worked in the construction industry with specialization in painting and wall paper installation.  He moved back and forth from New York and Florida, and now spends most of his time between Florida and Greece.  Dimitri is married to Stamatina Kokoris from Riha, Laconia.  They have two children, son Georgio in New York who works as a reconstructive plastic surgeon, and daughter Liyeri (Litsa) who lives in Canada with her family and is a history teacher.  Dimitri is the proud grandfather of 4 grandchildren. 

Katerina Tsafatinos

Board Member – Audit Committee Chairperson

Katherine (Katerina) Tsafatinos was born in Brooklyn, New York along with her younger brother Jimmy to parents Terry and Anna Tsafatinos from Velies, Monemvasias, Laconia.  In 1990 the Tsafatinos family moved to Clearwater.  They have been actively involved with the Laconian Society of West Florida for the last three decades.  After graduating from Clearwater High School, Katherine received her Bachelor of Science in Healthcare Administration from the University of Central Florida in Orlando, and then moved to North Carolina where she earned her Masters in Business Administration and Doctor of Pharmacy degrees from Campbell University.  Her professional career spanned over a decade in the specialties of hospital pharmacy, information systems and long term care consulting. These days she focuses her time on family, raising her two children Anna Maria (17) and Theodore James (15) and their mini-goldendoodle Liv (8). Katherine has been helping the Laconian Society behind the scenes for the last 20 years and finally joins the Board of Directors bringing years of knowledge and experience to the table. 

Panagiotis Diamantakos

Board Member – Building Committee Chairperson

Panagioti came to Chicago, Illinois from Greece on a student visa in 1974.  He graduated from Roosevelt University receiving a Masters degree in Business.  Panagioti met his wife, Penny,  while she was a student at Loyola University.  She graduated in 1979 and they married that same year.  They moved to Florida in 1986 and in 1987 Panagioti started his  own business in food distribution until 2018.  They have two children, a son who graduated from University of North Florida with a Bachelor’s degree in Business and a daughter who graduated from NOVA as an optometrist.  Panagioti is the proud grandfather of 3 grandsons.  He is retired and enjoying his children and grandchildren and we are so grateful to have his continued service on the Board of Directors.