[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 104 (Tuesday, June 15, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S4542]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO JOHN PAYIAVLAS

 Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize the 
achievements of a friend of mine and a great Ohioan, John Payiavlas, 
who recently celebrated his 90th birthday.
  John was born in 1931 to Greek immigrants Anthony and Paraskevi 
Payiavlas in Warren, Oh. At the age of 20, he was drafted into the U.S. 
Army and underwent basic training at Fort Riley in Kansas. In 1952, he 
was deployed to South Korea, where he joined U.N. forces in supporting 
South Korea as part of Fox Company, 7th Regiment, 3rd Infantry 
Division. He later transferred to the Greek Expeditionary Force 
Batallion--one of four Greek Americans to serve in this batallion--and 
was awarded the Commander's Silver Cross of Valour for his exemplary 
service. He was honorably discharged in 1953 as sergeant first class.
  John and his wife Marisa, who this year will celebrate their 65th 
wedding anniversary, were married 3 years after John returned home to 
Ohio from the service. In 1960, John purchased a small company called 
Automatic Vendors, which later became a multimillion-dollar corporation 
known as AVI Foodsystems. Since its inception, AVI has served customers 
in more than 6,500 locations across the United States and has become 
the largest independently owned and operated contract food service 
company in the Nation. Currently, the company provides vending, 
institutional dining, and coffee service operations to companies across 
America.
  Today, John Payiavlas runs the company alongside his children, 
Anthony and Patrice Kouvas. The Payiavlas family has made tremendous 
contributions to their community, including a generous gift of $500,000 
to Youngstown State University for their new sports media center. In 
2006, John and his wife were honored with the Cleveland Clinic's 
Distinguished Fellow Award for their support of the clinic's 
initiatives, such as the Heart and Vascular Institute, the Taussig 
Cancer Center, and the Glickman Urological Institute.
  John Payiavlas has received numerous accolades for his 
accomplishments. In 2000, John was inducted into the Business Hall of 
Fame of Northeast Ohio's Inside Business Magazine. In 2016, he was 
honored for his service in the Korean war with the Washington Oxi Day 
Foundation's Jaharis Service Award. In addition, John holds the highest 
honor in all Christendom for a lay person as an Archon Depoutatos of 
the Ecumenical Patriarchate, which dates back to the fourth century in 
the Greek Orthodox Church. The service and achievements of John 
Payiavlas extend well beyond the State of Ohio, and I applaud the 
lasting impact his success will have on our future generations.

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