“Find Your People”: Kathy Iliadis on Belonging and Greek-American Life

The Moorestown pharmacist spoke with Cosmos Philly about her Greek-American upbringing, her work during the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, and helping younger generations find their place in the community.

When Kathy Iliadis sent each of her three children to college, her advice was direct: find the Greek students, join their organizations, and stay involved.

“Find your people,” she told them. “Those are your people, your instant friends.”

That message grew out of her own experience. In this interview with Eleftherios Kostans, the Moorestown, New Jersey, resident reflects on her upbringing in North Jersey, her pharmacy career, and the years she has spent helping young people remain part of Greek-American life.

Iliadis grew up in Kearny and attended St. George Greek Orthodox Church in Clifton. Greek school, Sunday school, and GOYA, the Greek Orthodox Youth of America, shaped much of her childhood. Her mother was born and raised in Athens, with family roots in Tropaia, Arcadia, while her father came from Hostia, now known as Prodromos, near Thebes in Boeotia.

Her Greek education also played an unexpected role in her personal life. While studying pharmacy at Rutgers University, she met her future husband, Dr. Elias Iliadis, an interventional cardiologist at Cooper University Health Care, in a Modern Greek course.

“Who says Greek school doesn’t pay off?” she said.

The couple had three children, Sophia, Elena, and Nicholas. During her husband’s medical training and early career, the family lived in the Philadelphia area, Chicago, Ann Arbor, and Danville, Pennsylvania, before returning to the region 24 years ago.

Those moves gave Iliadis experience with Greek and Orthodox communities in different parts of the country. In Chicago, she met many third- and fourth-generation Greek Americans whose parishes remained active even when the language was less widely spoken.