Legacy Village of Athens Highlights Resident Tony Gavalas and His Life of Ministry

Antonio “Tony” Gavalas was born on September 21st, 1938, in Augusta, Georgia. He is the son of Nick A. Gavalas, originally from Kalymnos, Greece, and Louise Fulcher Gavalas, from Hephzibah, Georgia.

Tony was the eldest of four siblings, growing up in the country land of South Augusta, where he enjoyed hobbies like fishing and hunting. He also spent some time living in Panama City, Florida, as a child, when his father worked for Wainwright Shipyard, designing liberty ships for WWII. He lived through two wars as a child, the first being WWII, and the second being the Korean War.

After graduating from Richmond Academy in Augusta, GA, the oldest public school in the nation, Tony went on to study at Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina, graduating in 1960 with a double major in Religion and English. He also attended Candler Seminary at Emory University, where he earned his Masters of Divinity. From here, he began teaching English and Math at a school where he met his wife, Nelle, who was an Art teacher. He said that the first time he saw her in the teachers’ lounge he knew he wanted to marry her. On Valentine’s Day in 1970, Tony and Nelle got married! While Tony enjoyed teaching, he had always been encouraged by his mother’s side of the family to go into Methodist Ministry, and with the support of his beloved Nelle, he chose to do so.

In 1985, he completed his Doctorate of Ministry at San Francisco Seminary, through the University of California- Berkeley. He wrote his dissertation on Meditative Prayer and is currently working on adapting his dissertation into a book to be published. His first appointment as a Methodist Pastor was to a church in McClellanville, SC in 1970. Though he had since been reassigned, when Hurricane Hugo hit, the church was flooded by the 12-foot storm surge. Tony’s last appointment as a Methodist Minister was in 1996 in Clemson, SC and he worked here until he retired from working full time in 2002.
After his beloved wife Nelle passed away in 2007, he moved to Athens, GA to be near his son. Though he attempted to enjoy the fruits of retirement, it wasn’t long before Bishop Watson from the United Methodist Church in Atlanta phoned Tony to see if he could work as a supply pastor in Morgan County and Greene County. Tony continued working as a supply pastor until January of this year.

While Tony was building his career, he was also building his family. Tony and Nelle had five beautiful children: Nick, Kena, Christa, Fran and George. Now, Tony has ten grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, well, “four and a half if you count the one in the oven.” He enjoys taking trips with his children and grandchildren, including a trip he took to Greece in April 2023 with his oldest son. He spent 10 days exploring Athens, Greece, and the island of Kalymnos, Greece, where his father was from. He says he enjoyed seeing the beauty and meeting members of his family. He recognized a sense of longevity in this side of his family, noting how his grandparents lived to be 100 and 101, and says it’s probably due to their Mediterranean diet.

Reflecting on his life, Tony has lived through a lot. He recalled marching with Martin Luther King Jr. in 1961, as well as serving on the committee in Lake City, SC that was tasked with memorializing Ronald McNair, an African American astronaut from Lake City who died when the Challenger exploded.
Tony moved to Legacy Village in June 2024 and has brought such a fun sense of humor and an adventurous spirit to the community.