With faith in Christ and hope in the resurrection, we share news of the repose of St. Vladimir’s Trustee Emeritus Albert P. Foundos (Garden City Park, NY), who fell asleep in the Lord on April 23, 2021 at the age of 85.
Albert Foundos was born on May 23, 1935, the oldest son of Lambi and Orthodoxia Fundo in Korçë, Albania, and emigrated to the United States with his family in 1948 at the young age of 13. In the United States, he completed high school and went on to The City College of New York for a degree in chemical engineering. After serving as a captain in the U.S. Army, he returned to City College where he earned an MBA.
In 1959, he married Joan Malasko. They were blessed with a beautiful marriage and three children, Phillip, Donna, and Christine, and later with nine grandchildren.
Foundos was an accomplished inventor, engineer, and academic, a successful entrepreneur, and a person of great generosity and compassion. He was a general partner of TFF Limited Partnership; president of Cigar Oasis, Inc.; founder, chairman, and CEO of Fluid Data, Inc; and founder and chairman of Lamsia Corporation, a company that aided Albanian workers after the fall of communism in his native country. Foundos also built an incredibly close relationship to Archbishop Anastasios of Tirana, Albania, and worked together with His Eminence to promote the positive growth of the Orthodox Church there. His philanthropic activities extended to a number of charities and included serving on the Board of International Orthodox Christian Charities and the Board of the National Albanian American Council.
Foundos spent many years in faithful service to St. Vladimir’s Seminary, first becoming a trustee in 1982 under the tenure of Fr. Alexander Schmemann. He would later serve as treasurer and chairman of the Finance Committee, a position he held for many years. Foundos’s leadership talents were put to brilliant use as the co-chair of the Seminary’s first major capital campaign, successfully resulting in a tremendous expansion of the facilities and programs at St. Vladimir’s. The Seminary would later bestow upon Foundos the title of Trustee Emeritus following his retirement from its Board of Trustees, as well as the degree Doctor of Humane Letters (D.H.L.), honoris causa, in 2010, when Foundos also delivered the commencement address to the Seminary’s graduating class.
Throughout his life, Foundos was a devoted member of St. Nicholas Albanian Orthodox Church in Queens, NY, serving on the parish council and holding a variety of leadership positions. He always worked tirelessly to deepen his faith and share it with others.
He was loved and cherished by many, including his wife Joan; his siblings, Louis Ilia Foundos and Viola; his children, Phillip Foundos, Donna Oswald, and Christine Beno; his grandchildren, Matthew, Christina, Andrew, Nicholas, Kimberly, Daniel, Alex, James, and Daniela; and his parents, Llambi and Orthodoxia. He was also cherished by nieces, nephews, and godchildren.
Visitation will be held on Monday, April 26 from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Park Funeral Chapel (2175 Jericho Turnpike, Garden City Park, NY 11040). Services will be held on Tuesday, April 27 beginning at 10 a.m. at St. Nicholas Albanian Orthodox Church (181-14 Midland Pkwy, Jamaica, NY 11432).
May Albert's memory be eternal!
