Elias Vamvakas

After a long and brave battle with pancreatic cancer, Elias went to be with Christ his Lord and Savior. He left the same way he lived….with focus and determination. 

 Elias is survived by his beloved wife of 30 years, Nancy  Vamvakas (nee Fenwick), their three children, Olivia (Daniel Welsh), Megan and Michael, his father, Antonios Vamvakas and his mother-in-law, Susan Fenwick. He is predeceased by his mother, Eva Vamvakas (nee Ghikas)  (2016) and father-in-law, Marsden Fenwick (2021).

 Born in Athens, Greece, Elias immigrated to Canada with his Mom in 1966, settling in Toronto. His childhood was spent with dear family friends, the Nianiaris’, where he was blessed with bonus parents and chosen siblings. After graduating from West Hill Collegiate, Elias attended University of Toronto, Scarborough Campus by day, and worked for his Dad as a busboy/bartender at George’s Spaghetti House and later George’s Bourbon St. by night. While he graduated with a Bachelor of Science, his major in Economics, set him up to fulfill his childhood dream to be a Business Man! 

 Hired by London Life after graduation, he spent 6 months in London getting the best and most intense sales training available, then returned to Toronto to open his own office and make sales, seeing rapid success, while expanding his business knowledge and experience through exposure to a wide range of people and industries. And here began his habit of making life-long business buddies along the way. Elias moved from London Life to work alongside one of the Senior Partners at Creative Planning Financial Group, using his excellent business intuition and knowledge to help their clients achieve their insurance and investment goals. He later was appointed President of Creative Planning, overseeing its strategic planning and direction. He continued to add more life-long business buddies. He also started to invest in various other industries, fostering his entrepreneurial spirit. He was not afraid to fail, and believed he would succeed, eventually, to create something new.

 It was at this point in his life that be began to ask questions of faith and began a year-long study into the world religions and how they answered the big questions of life. His search ended with a decision to follow Jesus, and from then on, he committed to living his life in a way that honored God. 

 Then, Elias met two key people, one that would change the direction of his professional life, and the other, his entire life. 

 Dr. Jeffrey Machat, an ophthalmologist, was introduced to Elias in 1992, and Jeff started to share with Elias his plan for creating a Laser Vision company. Elias was instantly intrigued and excited, and it wasn’t long before they had developed a business plan for TLC The Laser Center, and started to find investors, medical and business colleagues, and real estate. With Elias as the CEO and Jeff as the Medical Director, TLC went public in 1996, and became one of the largest provided of laser vision correction in North America by the late 1990’s. Accolades followed, both within the medical world, and the business world. Elias was awarded the Presidential Medal of Honor from Illinois College of Optometry in 1996, selected as one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 in 1997, and in 1999, TLC was ranked one of Canada’s fastest growing companies, leading to his Entrepreneur of the Year award in the Emerging Business category.

 His experience in the Health Care space led him to start, acquire and build other health care companies, like Occulogix, TearLab and later, Greenbrook TMS. Eventually, he acquired a holding company, turning it into a one-of-a-kind Private Equity firm, Greybrook Capital, leading as CEO and Partner until his passing. Elias confidently leaves Greybrook in the exceptionally capable hands of Peter Politis and Sasha Cucuz, the remaining Partners and his close friends. 

 The second key person, of course, was the love of his life, Nancy. As fellow members of the Parkview Club’s morning workout regulars, they met at a weekly Step Class in 1990, but soon became daily workout friends, adding weightlifting, tennis and running in Wilket Creek Park to their weekly routine. By 1992, the friendship had developed into romance (which meant golf was now introduced to the mix), and in June 1994, the romance into marriage. What followed, was a full and beautiful multi-generational family life. Together, their 30 years of VamFam time was marked with deep love, great joy, much laughter, many pizza-and-a-movie nights, summers at Lake Simcoe, great travels, sunsets, TKD Black Belts, many golf rounds and wonderful traditions that will keep Elias’ memory alive. 

 Elias was driven by three key principles. Do the right thing, behave in a way that people are better for knowing you, and never forget that life is about loving people. He was determined to have impact and make a difference…he wanted to make ripples. This determination was also shown in his generosity of time, talent and treasures. The outpouring of stories, support and love over the last 21 months of his illness has affirmed that, while not perfect, his impact was felt, and his ripples travelled far and wide. Thank you to everyone who sent Elias messages of encouragement. They moved him to tears.

 Elias leaves behind 3 children whom he was so committed to, and very proud of. A devoted father, he rarely missed games, recitals, concerts, or tournaments. Over the last year and a half, Elias repeatedly spoke of how grateful he was to have spent so much time with our kids and their partners. 

 He leaves behind all those impacted by his witness of faith. His final prayer was that all he knew and loved would come to know the hope and peace that he had found; that he would see everyone again. Thank you to all those who prayed with him and for him.

 He leaves behind a large collection of friends from every community he was part of - each company, each faith community, each neighborhood, as well as YPO/WPO and the various Golf Clubs he was blessed to be part of including The National, Beacon Hall, Eastbourne, Ocean Reef and Card Sound. Thank you for loving him so well.

 He leaves behind many coworkers, clients, patients and investors whose lives are better for the businesses he built and grew. Thank you for joining him in creating amazing organizations.

 He also leaves behind about 50 left-handed putters, which are a perfect tribute to the game he loved, played with excellence, and which brought him great joy, great friends and many championship trophies over five decades. He now can be found on the heavenly links with his healthy body getting his handicap down to scratch. 

 All is well,

Safely rest,

God is nigh. 

 A Memorial Service will be held on Wednesday, August 21, 2024 at 4:00 p.m. at the Bayview Glen Church, 300 Steeles Ave. East, Thornhill, ON. Celebration of Life will immediately follow at the Church. 

  The Vamvakas Family would like to thank Dr. Chaya Shwartz (TGH), Dr. Raymond Jang (PMCC), and all the nurses and care givers who gave their very best to Elias, blessing us with an extra 20 months together. Pancreatic Cancer remains a disease without a cure, so in lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation, or other organizations working to eradicate cancer.   https://supportthepmcf.ca/ui/breakthroughs/donations/start

 Final note: If you are interested, Elias shared his journey with Pancreatic Cancer in his blog:

https://myupdates.ca/