[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 20 (Tuesday, January 30, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E114]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       PANAYIOTA VURNAKES VALLAS

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                          HON. GEORGE HOLDING

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 30, 2018

  Mr. HOLDING. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the life of Mrs. 
Pota Vurnakes Vallas.
  Mrs. Vallas grew up in Krissafa, Greece, a small village near Sparta, 
where she was born in 1908. Her father, Gus Vurnakes, immigrated to the 
United States in 1924 and brought Pota, who was the eldest of the ten 
Vurnakes' children, with him.
  It was at that time, Mr. Speaker, that Pota's father put her to work 
assisting him at the California Fruit Store on Fayetteville Street in 
Raleigh, North Carolina where she made homemade ice cream and 
chocolates.
  By 1927, just before the Great Depression Pota married her husband, 
the late George Theodore Vallas, himself a fellow immigrant. Mr. 
Speaker, like many families at the time, the Vallas' and Vurnakes' were 
overwhelmed by the Depression. Pota's family lost their home, their 
life savings, and the California Fruit Store during that time. But they 
never lost their will to striving for a better life.
  And in 1944, Pota and George travelled to Chicago and where they were 
able to purchase the distributorship of the National Sewing Machine 
Company. Their business grew into National Art Interiors--a landmark in 
Raleigh--supplying furnishings for both homes and businesses.
  Mr. Speaker, Pota served on the North Carolina Community Foundation, 
the First Citizens Bank Board and was a life-long member of the Holy 
Trinity Greek Orthodox Church. She was presented with the Saint 
Michael's Award for her years of dedicated service by the Greek 
Orthodox Diocese of America.
  Sadly, Mr. Speaker, Pota Vallas passed away December 12, 2017 at the 
age of 109.
  She was a loving wife, and mother, as well as a pioneering 
entrepreneur and businesswoman in North Carolina and she will be 
missed.

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