Concord – The son of Greek immigrants, Dr. Bob Papaioanou was a symbol of family strength as a physician straddled the private practices and emergency rooms of small-town New England and the pinnacle of corporate America. He died, facing his own medical afflictions, on November 25, 2022, at his hospice house in Concord, New Hampshire, along with his wife and his daughters. he was 90 years old.
A resident of New Hampshire for over 30 years, Dr. Papaioanou was born Xenophon L. Papaioanou on July 20, 1932 in Springfield, Massachusetts. His parents, Vasilike (Legeros) and Leonidas Papaioanou, known as Vicki and Louis, wanted to give their son an American name. His mother said her neighbor said, “Bobby! The search for nicknames is over.
Dr. Papaioanou attended Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine for two years before transferring to American International College in Springfield to be closer to his family. In 1952, he was contacted by Laura Camaros, an AIC student sent as an envoy by his girlfriend who was interested in dating a handsome Greek undergraduate. Yes , he knew about her friend, Bob said to Laura, “But who are you?” Sixty-nine years after his marriage to Miss Camaros, it was an encounter he would recall with a smile until the last days of his life.
After college, Tufts Medical School invited the newlyweds to Boston. Dr. Papaioannow was successful at Tufts and completed his residency at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in the Brighton area of the city. A Greek Orthodox doctor, a rarity in Catholic institutions, advised a bewildered nun for missing Mass. It was also at St. Elizabeth’s Church that Mrs. Papai Oannow delivered the couple’s first birth in 1957. four daughters.
After completing their residency, Dr. and Mrs. Papaioanow moved their young family to a Revolutionary War-era home on the Merrimack River in Amesbury, where they practiced as general practitioners and formed deep and lasting friendships in northern Essex County. built. Patients found Dr. Papaioanou to be a caregiver with a deep sense of humanity and humor. Papaioanous eventually moved to nearby Haverhill, where Dr. Papaioanou served as Chief of Emergency Medicine at Hale Hospital, and a few years later he was Chief of Medicine at Whittier Rehabilitation Hospital.
In 1974, Dr. Papaioanow’s career took a new turn. He first started working for Prudential, a financial conglomerate based in Boston’s Prudential Tower, and later served as Vice President and Director of Medical at its headquarters in Newark, New Jersey. Fate intervened in 1982 and he was diagnosed with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. Like all difficulties in his life, Dr. Papaioanou faced his diagnosis with uncomplaining and fortitude, concerned only with the impact on his family.
Neither multiple sclerosis (fortunately, his case was relatively mild) nor Alzheimer’s disease were what Dr. Papaioanow endured much later. He loved dogs, especially German Shepherds. He was an accomplished painter and photographer, whose hobby he passed on to his children and grandchildren. And from his Datsun 240Z to his Boston Whaler to the occasional motorcycle, he had an unbridled love of speed and fresh air. Either way, he was a Renaissance man, but his modesty would have ridiculed the term.
Long after sending his daughters to college, long after taking care of his parents and mother-in-law, long after teaching his grandchildren how to fish, at the twilight of his life, Dr. He remained the center. his beloved wife, Laura; From their early courtship in Springfield, to when he struggled to get her out because he couldn’t rest Saturday nights from the bar where he worked at Welcome Inn (“Six nights a week ‘ said his boss (who also happened to be his father) came to slow-dance fearfully to an aging Willie Nelson, and their love story was triumphant. Illness did not deprive him of his sweetness and generosity. “The best thing I ever did was say to my grandchildren at my 90th birthday party, ‘I married your grandmother.’ As in, “If I follow my path, we will never grow old.”
In addition to his wife of 69 years, Laura Camaros Papaioanou, Dr. Papaiouanou is survived by daughters Maria Papaianou Gray, Vicky Papaiouanou Murphy, Iris Papaiouanou Hardin, Amy Papaiouanou Moffett, and their partners. Grandchildren Jack Gray, Rose Moore, Caitlin Gurtseff, Christa Murphy, Riley Murphy, Louis Roberts, Adam Roberts, Madeleine McGonagle, and step-grandchildren Sarah, Laura, Philip Hardin and Caleb Moffett. Dr. Papaioanow is also survived by several great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his parents, his mother-in-law Mary Camaros, his sister Helen Misogianes, several sister-in-laws and brothers, nieces and nephews, and dear friends.
The family would like to thank the doctors, nurses and hospice staff who lovingly cared for Dr. Papaioanow in the same caring tradition that Dr. Papaioanow cared for his own patients.
Arrangements are private. A memorial service will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, Dr. Papaioanou memorabilia can be donated to his alzheimer’s Association (alz.org, or 15 Construction Dr Suite 1G, Bedford, NH 03110).
