More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
An eminent university lecturer with a passion for life and learning has died from Covid-19.
Greek-born Miltos Petridis, 58, a father of four teenage children, passed away after his condition deteriorated at the family home at Wilmington, near Dartford..
The type-2 diabetes sufferer was initially admitted to Darent Valley Hospital in March when his routine medication was altered.
His heartbroken widow Yvonne, 54, said he appeared to have a reaction and spent five days at home feeling poorly. Eventually after seeing his GP he was taken to A&E and underwent two operations before being discharged.
On Saturday, April 4 he was taken to hospital by ambulance and diagnosed positive for the virus. He died on April 12.
At the time of his death he was head of the computer,science,engineering and mathematics department at the University of Middlesex.
Yvonne, a mathematics lecturer at the University of Greenwich, met her husband-to-be at Thames Polytechnic where they were both studying.
When Yvonne finished her PhD she went to Australia for six months, but they continued their relationship by email and phone.The couple married in March 1997 and spent their three-week honeymoon travelling across Mexico.
In her eulogy, she said:"This year was our 23rd anniversary, no cards, no presents,Miltos was in hosptal - I just wanted him home."
The couple moved to their present home in Wilmington in the mid- 1990s. Miltos was a parent governor at Dartford Grammar School for Girls. They joined a NCT group when Yvonne fell pregnant with their first child and remained friends with parents as their children have grown up.
In 2000 their daughter Lysandra was born followed by their son Orestis a year later. Twin boys Paris and Kimon arrived in 2004.
Yvonne said:"Miltos was a family man. He loved them all and doted on them.We were happy but life was chaotic."
The family spent summer holidays in Greece when Miltos would reminisce about his happy childhood memories growing up near Athens. As a youngster he was an accomplished sprinter and played the bouzouki well.
Miltos worked at the University of Greenwich for 20 years and then about four years at Brighton University before moving to Middlesex.
He had a thirst for learning, particularly languages, being fluent in French as well as English. He had been taking evening classes to learn Chinese.
Speaking at his funeral service at Medway Crematorium on May 6, Yvonne, said:"Every new place we travelled in life, every new place Miltos visited, he bought books to read about the culture, the history and would learn bits of the language. Miltos did not stop learning.
"We will remember Miltos in healthier times, telling us the stories of the places we visited. Sharing a not so necessarily funny joke.
"Because someone has an underlying health condition, it doesn't mean it is more acceptable for them to die from this virus. I thought we would be able to ride out the storm together.But it wasn't to be."
We've created a page dedicated to the memory of those we've lost to Covid-19.
