Nectarios Papanicolaou (Necta) passed away suddenly and tragically on Saturday 16th April 2022 in a road accident on his way home from work. Last week (Wednesday 27th April 2022) he was laid to rest.
His loss has been felt throughout the entire community, with everyone having their own fond memories of Necta. However, it is his wife Krissy and two young children, Paris and George, whose lives have been shattered and devastated beyond words.
While there is nothing we can do to bring Necta back, coming together as a community and helping to support his young family is the best way we can honour his memory.
In support of Necta's family, Lisa Pereira (a close friend of the family) started a Go Fund Me fundraiser page. This has been created in the hopes that they can help to support the family in ways that are beyond their reach. Up till now $60,000 has been raised.
Please click the link below as any help towards this is greatly appreciated.
The family thanks you for your support, love and kindness through this very difficult time.
By Athena Sirmanoglou
Eulogy
Nectarios Papanicolaou
All Saints Greek Orthodox Church, Belmore
Wednesday, 27 April 2022
These words come from those closest to Nectarios — his parents, his wife, his brothers and sister, his cousins, aunties and uncles.
Not many people know this, but we almost lost Necta many years ago. He was two years old, just a little boy playing with his cousins.
One minute he was there, the next, he was gone. He had fallen from the top-level balcony onto the grass below.
Everyone madly rushed downstairs, expecting the worst.
When they got there, little Necta was walking towards the front door with not even a scratch on him. He wasn’t even crying.
His mother Yiota wonders if God wanted to take Necta right there and then, when he was two years old. She wonders if the Lord decided it would be better to let Necta live a while longer, so that he could spread joy and make people smile.
One thing is for certain: In his 34 years, Necta did spread joy, and he did make people smile.
Just over a week ago, when his death was announced to the community, hundreds of people responded with their own stories of Necta.
They called him the man with the world’s biggest smile, the playful joker with a great sense of humour, the beautiful soul who lit up the room with his positive energy and infectious laugh.
He was the true definition of a ‘people person’, someone who loved being surrounded by others, and who felt most alive when he was talking to people, listening to them, hearing their stories and sharing a laugh.
When it came to the family business, for Necta there was no such thing as customers — he called all of them his mates. And a stranger was just a friend he hadn’t met.
As a result, people gravitated towards him, and he had many, many mates.
But while he loved the idea of being a friend to everyone, Necta was first and foremost a family man.
He would always say, ‘Family is everything’, and he lived by that every single day.
Each Sunday, like clockwork, it was time for family and food.
There were few things he loved more than these family gatherings, even after working alongside some of these same people for 72 hours that week.
As a son, Necta was present and loving. He enjoyed spending quality time with his mother Yiota, cooking and cleaning with her, hanging with her at home or taking her out for a meal.
‘Love you, Mum,’ he would say. She will never forget those words. Necta was also never shy to express his love for his father George. ‘I wouldn’t be where I am if it wasn’t for you,’ he would say. ‘Love you, Dad.’
As a brother, Necta was supportive and caring. He’d speak of Michael, Dion and Michelle with pride, sharing their achievements and celebrating their successes as if they were his own.
His siblings were proud of him, too. Michelle will never forget the look on her brother’s face when he brought his firstborn child home from the hospital — it was the look of pure love.
As a dad and a partner, Necta was devoted. He adored Krissy, Paris and George, and loved them unconditionally. And anyone who saw the way the kids looked at their Dad could see they felt the same.
He made Krissy feel like the luckiest woman in the world, always managing to put a smile on her face, even when things felt unbearably hard.
Together, they have had to find the strength to stay hopeful and faithful that everything would be okay with their young daughter Paris.
Through all the operations and all of the hospital visits, Necta remained positive. Even when the doctors prepared them for the worst, he truly believed that she would flourish.
Necta would say to anyone who’d listen that with two beautiful kids, a beautiful wife and a beautiful home, his life was now complete.
He had come through all of the struggles, all of the hard times, and had become a hardworking man who showed the commitment to achieve his goals.
When Necta found something he loved, he threw all of his energy into it — whether it was cutting the perfect steak, training hard at the gym, putting his cars and motorbikes to the test, cooking up a fancy meal, or being the best father and husband he could be.
He wasn’t perfect — nobody is. He wasn’t always smiling. He could be stubborn and moody. And like all of us, he made mistakes.
But he was a good man who did good things for his family, his friends and his community.
He knew what was important in life, and we’re proud of who he was.
On Easter Sunday, when we were supposed to be celebrating the Resurrection, Necta’s closest family members gathered at his parent’s house, to surround each other with love and support.
Normally, Necta would be there, standing around the barbecue, telling an animated story or laughing at his own jokes.
He’d be annoying his cousins, coming up from behind and pinching them on the back and cackling at the top of his lungs.
These family gatherings will never be the same without him. The world will not be the same without Necta Papanicolaou.
He was the positive energy that helped to keep our hearts light, and the magnet that helped to pull us together.
It is hard to come to terms with the fact that he has left us. We are broken. We are numb. There are no words to properly describe the confusion and the disbelief.
But while we are experiencing this unimaginable pain, we are also thankful that he wasn’t taken from us all those years ago, when he fell from the balcony.
Necta gave us so much in his 34 years.
We feel deep gratitude for the times we had with him.
We thank him for the laughs and for the smiles.
We thank him for the memories and the moments he made special.
We thank him for showing us pure love.
And we thank him for leaving us his two beautiful children — two human beings who we will love and hold tight.
Rest in peace, Necta.
You leave a huge hole in our hearts that can never be filled. We will never forget you.
