Established on 12.27.2019 by Diane D. Clark
[The photo was taken in Athens by a very elderly man whose camera rested on a tripod which kept collapsing. When he had finished taking the pictures, he put the film in a bucket of water and then after a few minutes hung the pictures on a small clothesline using clothes pins. When the pictures were dry, he used a giant pair of scissors to cut them apart. It remains one of Diane's favorite lifetime memories.]
Aristides (Aris) Sideropoulos was born on Valentine's Day in 1936 in the village of Akropotamos, in Thessalonika, Greece. At the age of 19, he first came to the United States as an international exchange student in the American Field Service program. He later returned to the U.S. to attend Concordia College, graduating in 1960 with a major in biology and a minor in psychology. He went on to receive a master’s degree in bacteriology from North Dakota State University in 1963 and a Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of Kansas in 1967. During this time, he worked hard and sacrificed much. He spent many lonely hours in libraries during holidays and was not able to return home for many years.
Aris first taught at the Medical College of Pennsylvania and then taught microbiology in the Department of Biological Sciences at Duquesne University for 21 years. During his professional years, he published 17+ papers and research articles on bacteriology and microbiology on topics ranging from the effects of caffeine and air pollution to the environment. He retired in 1998 as a full professor. He genuinely cared about his students and gave them the time they needed outside of the classroom.
Aris shared everything with the love of his life - his soulmate and life partner, Diane Clark. Diane first met Aris when he walked into the office, having just arrived at Duquesne University. She remembers looking at him and whispering to herself, “God, this one’s mine.” They were a perfect match, each other’s respite from the storm. Every year Aris would play Diane a new song on his harmonica for her birthday, making up the tune as he went along. He called his harmonica group of one, the Harmonicats, and usually began his song by saying, “Let’s hit it boys!”
Aris’s passion, however, was gardening and THE TOMATO HARVEST. Every year Aris would consult catalogues, talk to staff at Simmons Farm, and make his final gardening decisions before the planting would begin. As he picked the ripened tomatoes throughout the summer, he would weigh each harvest on a special scale, marking the number of pounds in a notebook and comparing it to the number from previous years. He had a competitive flair, too, always interested in the number of tomatoes that Diane might see in other gardens while she walked the dog in surrounding neighborhoods. But Aris’s tomatoes were always the best.
Aris loved hats, vests, and suspenders, in that order. He enjoyed cooking, The Three Stooges, all types of music and movies, and was especially proud of his Greek heritage, celebrating the festivals, culture, and history of the country. He was the type of person who performed many acts of kindness and generosity throughout his life without display. He did not have time to waste energy on anger but treated people as though they mattered.
Aris was a strong and steady, yet humble man who followed his own path and lived by the principles of his faith, especially the Golden Rule. He had a gentle spirit and the heart of an artist, appreciating beauty in all forms. He was especially fond of the outdoors believing as Aristotle said, “In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous.” Aris and Diane enjoyed the many varieties of birds that would visit his home in Pittsburgh, PA, which Aris referred to as “the Willow House.” They made countless emergency bird seed purchases through the years. They appreciated each day together and considered the time as special. They savored even the simplest pleasures - a sunset or ducks at a lake. Aris always saw the rainbows first.
Diane believes that, in his absence, the night sky will never shine as brightly.
The Aristides Savos Sideropoulos ’60 Endowed Scholarship is awarded by the Office of Financial Aid to students of any class, with preference given to students from Greece (the Hellenic Republic) in Southern Europe. If there are no eligible students from Greece, then this scholarship may be awarded to other enrolled students.