Athanasios "Sakis" Mattas

Athanasios “Sakis” Mattas

St. George, UT- Athansios Mattas, 66, passed away on September 23, 2021 at home. He was born on March 15, 1955 in Petrousa, Greece to Dimitrios and Eleni Mattas. He married Catherine Moore Mattas in Waveland, Mississippi on November 2, 1984.

Sakis was born and raised in a small village in Northern Greece, and spent his summers as a teenager working in Athens. After leaving the village he spent several years in Germany and England studying and working. Upon returning to Athens, he met the love of his life Catherine and came to America to marry her. They spent the first few years of their marriage in New York City and soon moved to Tennessee. Here he trained as an HVAC serviceman, starting his own company after finishing school. In 1997 they moved to Fruit Heights, Utah where they raised their son, Dimitrios. Shortly after his retirement from Hill Air Force Base, they moved to St. George.

He was a man full of life, and affected the lives of everyone around him. Once you met him, you could simply never forget him. Sakis loved languages and learning about the different cultures from which they originated. Any given day you could find him in his recliner studying and reading in German, Greek, or English. He preferred to be in nature and loved going on long walks, often reminiscing on his childhood in the mountains of Greece. Sakis enjoyed camping and backpacking trips with his family. He could spend hours talking about music and the arts, one of the biggest joys of his life. Sakis was the best husband and father one could imagine. He went above and beyond to support those he loved and never, ever asked for anything in return.

He is survived by his wife Catherine in St. George, son Dimitrios in New York City, and his mother Eleni and two brothers George and Ilias in Petrousa, Greece.

Private funeral services will be held on Monday, September 27 at Tonaquint Cemetery in St. George, under the direction of McMillan Mortuary, 435-688-8880.