Beloved husband of the late Marie Luise Kuhn Pavlos joined her on October 12, 2008.  Sam was born and raised in Helper, Utah, one of seven children of proud Cretan immigrants, Stelianos and Ekaterini Pavlidakis.  During the depression he helped his family earn money by working a variety of odd jobs in addition to tending to the land the family was sharecropping. Upon graduation from high school, he joined family and friends in California.

He enlisted in the Navy in January of 1943 and received training at Iowa State College.  During WWII he proudly served as a Motor Machinist Mate 1^st Class aboard PT304.  He received the Victory Medal, The European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal (4 stars), The Asiatic-Pacific Medal, the Philippine Liberation Medal, and the Good Conduct Medal.  After the war he returned to San Francisco to work in a service station that he co-owned, drive taxicabs, and work in the shipyards.  He then reenlisted in the Navy as an Engineer 1^st class and proudly served in the Korean War aboard LST-758. 

Upon returning to San Francisco he learned the bar business from friends and relatives and became the co-owner and manager of Gilbey’s Cocktail Lounge and The Techau.  It was at Gilbey’s that he met the love of his life, Marie Luise Kuhn.  After marriage they moved to Sunnyvale to start a family and open two restaurants (The Longhorn Charcoal Pit and the Peter Pan) with Sam’s brothers.  Sam was dedicated to pleasing every single customer and so he worked very long hours preparing food, managing, and repairing anything and everything.  He was a true Jack-of-all-trades.  After 26 years in the restaurant business, Sam and Marie (his “C.F.O.”) retired.

In retirement Sam was able to spend more time doing the things he loved – spending time with his family, tending to his garden, helping relatives, friends, and neighbors with repairs and chores of all kinds, going on fishing trips, following the stock market, reading and watching documentaries about history, and sharing his incredible knowledge of the world with everyone.  He was fondly known as everyone’s “Uncle Sam” and the “Mayor of Bobolink Circle” – his home of almost 50 years.  He will be sorely missed by all who knew him.

Sam is survived by his children: Steve & Laura Pavlos, Debbie Pavlos, Jeanette & Joe Mardesich, and Michael Pavlos; his grandchildren: Matthew and Gregory Pavlos, Johnny, Justin, Brandon, Nicole, and Tyler Mardesich; his sisters Helen Soter, Irene Matthews, and Sophia  Davos; as well as his numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins.