Late night TV Talk Show moment

I think the first time I heard of the Orthodox Church was when Adrian Zmed (Grease II) was being interviewed on the Arsenio Hall Show. Not much was said about it, all I remember was a joke about married priests. Our brother Adrian's father has fallen asleep in Lord.

Posted 01/14

CHICAGO, IL [OCA] -- Archpriest George Zmed, 93, retired pastor of Holy Nativity Romanian Orthodox Church here, fell asleep in the Lord on Tuesday, January 12, 2010.

Father George was born in Chicago on April 24, 1916 to Nicolae and Paraschiva [Balan] Zmed, both of Comlosul Mare, Timis, Romania. At the age of five years, he and his family returned to Comlosul Mare, where he lived until returning to the US in November 1952.

He graduated from the Timisoara-Caransebes Theological Academy in 1942, after which he studied for one year at the Law School in Cluj.

He was ordained to the diaconate by His Eminence, Archbishop [later Metropolitan] Vasile [Lazarescu] in Pesac, Banat, Romania, on October 18, 1942, and to the priesthood the following week in Satchinez. He was awarded the right to wear the red sash by Metropolitan Vasile and elevated to the dignity of archpriest by the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America on March 19, 1996.

After his return to the US, he was received into the ranks of the clergy of the Romanian Episcopate in July 1958. He served Chicago's Holy Nativity parish until his retirement in 1983.

Father George served as spiritual advisor to the American-Romanian Orthodox Youth and administrative dean of the Episcopate's Chicago Deanery, contributed to the "SOLIA" newspaper, and participated in numerous other Episcopate actitivities. He was fluent in the Romanian and English languages and is well remembered as a musician with a fine voice, who organize many musical programs for his parish.

Married to the former Persida Golub of Cerneteaz, Romania in Timisoara on October 15, 1942, he and his wife are survived by three sons, Cornel, Walter, and Adrian, a well known actor.

Funeral services will be celebrated at Chicago's Holy Nativity Church on Wednesday evening and Thursday, January 20-21.

May Father George's memory be eternal!

Memory Eternal!