John Combis was 15 years old when he disembarked from the Charon in Western Australia in 1919.  

At age 25 he became a Naturalised citizen of Australia in 1929.  In the documents from the National Archives website it was stated that he was both fluent in written and oral English and of sound character.  

During the 30’s he probably spent most of his time in Tenterfield and the surrounding area.  

His whereabouts in the 40’s are somewhat of a mystery.  However by 1946-47 he had arranged to bring his bride, Evangelina Gregi to Australia.  

A short time after the end of WW11 Evangelina made her long and arduous journey to Australia.  In total it took 9 months or more to reach Australia after being stranded in Palestine due to the ensuring conflict there.  

She finally arrived by aircraft on 28th November 1947, landing in Darwin. During this time John supported her financially sending money at regular intervals.  

Evangelina and John were married in Sydney on 4th December 1947.  They returned to Tenterfield and then took up residents in a small town nearby called Emmaville.  John purchased a grocery store and he and his wife worked together in the shop till around the mid 50s.   

During their time in Emmaville, their children Nicholas and Irene were born in Vegetable Creek Hospital.  A year after Irene was born they were both baptised in the Greek Orthodox Church in Brisbane.  

By the mid 50’s the family relocated to Sydney.  In 1957 John arranged for his mother in law, Irene Gregi to come to join them in Australia.  She arrived at Sydney airport on 1st July 1957 and she lived with them for 10 years before she died in 1967.  

Up till 1963, before his death John owned a number of businesses.  These included grocery stores, a delicatessen, a milkbar and a cake shop.   

John became ill and was admitted to Prince Henry Hospital on 19th February 1963.  He developed cardiac arrhythmia and died on 10th March 1963 at age 58.  

Evangelina is still living at age 88 in an aged care facility.

August 2006