Deacon Andrew Jude Gerakas, whose devotion to daily Eucharist compelled him to leave the Greek Orthodox Church to become a Roman Catholic, and then one of Hawaii’s first permanent deacons, died on May 18 in Honolulu. He was 87 and a deacon at Star of the Sea Parish in Waialae-Kahala for 34 years.
Gerakas served as an active deacon until the day of his death, which was unexpected.
“He gave his all for the church,” said his daughter, Mary Gerakas Wellein. “And he was a good father, too.”
Deacon Gerakas’ funeral services are on June 19 at Star of the Sea Church starting with visitation at 9 a.m. and Mass at 10 a.m., celebrated by Bishop Larry Silva. He will be buried at the Hawaii State Veterans Cemetery in Kaneohe, at 2 p.m.
Wellein said her father’s typical day would begin with 6 a.m. Mass at Star of the Sea, followed by visits to nursing homes, hospitals and private residences, bringing Holy Communion, support and comfort.
He would return home for lunch and to work on sermons or other writing projects.
Then it was off to more visits, evening prayers and Mass, and home for dinner and nightly prayers, she said.
“He carried the names and requests of people he was praying for in his shirt pocket,” Wellein said, “and would pray unceasingly for everyone.
“If you mentioned any petition, right then he would say, ‘Let’s pray a Hail Mary for them right now,’” she said.
“The rosary, the Angelus, devotions, Scripture readings, novenas and, foremost, receiving of the most precious Body and Blood in Holy Eucharist buoyed him through his day,” his daughter said.
Andrew Gerakas was born on May 8, 1928, in New York City to immigrant Greek parents. He grew up in an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood in the upper Bronx and attended Greek school in downtown Manhattan in addition to public school. He later said his childhood experiences greatly influenced his vocation as a Catholic deacon.
He came to Hawaii in the military in 1948 and attended the University of Hawaii in Manoa where he met his future wife Juanita Kalahauoli Stephen. They married and moved to New York where he completed his master’s of business in economics at Columbia University. They then moved back to Hawaii to live.
Gerakas worked for the Honolulu Iron Works, the United Nations in then-Western Samoa, and subsequently became the economic development division head for the State of Hawaii Department of Planning and Economic Development. There he organized the Pacific Island Tourism Development Council and the Pacific Tuna Development Foundation and other cooperative Pacific island organizations.
He also created the Made in Hawaii Association, a group of local manufacturers marketing their Hawaii-made products, which still exists today.
Since joining the Catholic Church in 1963, Gerakas was active in the Knights of Columbus, the Third Order of Mary, the Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary, the Basic Christian Community and other Catholic organizations.
He was one of eight members of the Diocese of Honolulu’s first permanent deacon class, ordained by Bishop John J. Scanlan on Dec. 5, 1981.
After retiring from the State, he devoted himself fully to the diaconal ministry. He also received a doctorate of ministry degree from San Francisco Theological Seminary.
According to Gordon Mattos, bulletin editor and music coordinator at Star of the Sea Parish, Gerakas was instrumental in bringing the Chinese Carmelite monastery community to Hawaii in 1973 and continued to visit them monthly.
He was also master of novices for the Third Order of Mary.
“He was our hospital minister,” Mattos said. “When he heard someone was sick and hospitalized, he would be the first one to go and see them.”
Active in the Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary, Deacon Gerakas led the 20 decades of the rosary before the Blessed Sacrament on the first Sunday of the month.
On Sunday mornings he also led a prayer service at Kahala Nui, the retirement community adjacent to his parish.
“He could preach about almost anything,” Mattos said. “Pulling in names and dates, history came alive” in his homilies. “I really admired that ability.”
Gerakas wrote two books, “The Rosary and Devotion to Mary,” published by St. Paul’s Books and Media in 1988, and the 130-page “The Origin and Development of the Holy Eucharist, East and West,” published by St. Pauls/Alba House in 2006.
One reviewer called the latter book “a fine introduction for general readers who want to learn more about the Eucharist and some of the issues involved in the reconciliation of the Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox Churches.”
In its preface, Deacon Gerakas explained why he became a Catholic:
“The longing to receive the Lord in the Holy Eucharist on a daily basis was the primary reason for my becoming a Roman Catholic, although I have never felt that I have left the Orthodox Church. During the early days of my residency in Honolulu, there was no Orthodox Church.”
Gerakas’ wife Juanita died in 2013. He is survived by sons Michael Peter and John Joseph, daughter Mary Wellein and four grandchildren.
