TED KIAPOS

Ted Kiapos was born April 17, 1925 in downtown Los Angeles. His parents, John H. Kiapos and Magdaline Kiapos, immigrated from Greece in 1900 and 1920, respectively. Ted's father, a true American entrepreneur, founded the Omega Shoe Polish Company in 1911, which was a higly respected national brand for over seven decades, OmegaShoePolish.com.

Ted attended high school at George Washington High School, where he played football and was selected first-string All Southern League. Ted volunteered for military service in 1942 at the age of seventeen, joining the U.S. Navy, serving in the Pacific theater in WWII as a Pharmacist Mate, First Class. After an honorable discharge, Ted attended college at Pepperdine University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in psychology and philosophy. Ted also played first string for the Pepperdine Waves championship football team during the era when players wore leather helmets without face masks. Their team played both ways, defense and offense. They were National Small College Champions, and notably the highest scoring, least scored upon team in the nation from 1946 - 1949. Ted was the team captain and was voted the "Most Inspirational Player." Ted was also selected to play as a first-stringer in the first Hula Bowl in 1946. Ted was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1952, but chose to pursue a business career instead. In 1989, Ted was inducted into the Pepperdine University Hall of Fame.

After attending college, Ted went to work for his father at the Omega Shoe Polish Company, and in 1952, became president upon his father's retirement. During 1952, Ted met Aspasia Mayakis and they were married later that year. The following year their son, John, was born. In 1954, their daughter, Theodora, was born. And in 1957, their second son, George, was born.

Ted was a true innovator as a businessman. In the leather dressings field, Ted developed the first aerosol line of leather sprays, Dy-Nylon, and in 1957, he partnered with Charlie Tandy, founder of the Tandy Corporation, where they formed Omega Chemical Company of Fort Worth, Texas, providing Tandy Leathercraft Stores with leather dyes, finishes, creams, and other leathercrafting solutions. Ted also authored the book, "Hi-Lighter" in 1957, A Complete Instruction Guide on the Fundamentals of Dyeing & Finishing Hand Carved and Tooled Leathers.

In the early 1960s, Ted developed Color Cosmetic, which became a national fad for women to recolor their shoes, belts, handbags and other accessories, to match. Ted developed Omega industrial leather care products, supplying manufacturers of shoes, boots/cowboy boots, leather apparel, luggage and handbags throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Ted went on to found Living Leather of California, manufacturing leather accessories and gift items for national chain stores, including, Sears, J.C. Penney's, Thom McAn, Leeds, K-Mart, to name just a few. Ted was also successful in private labelling Omega products for national retailers.

Ted, always an athlete, was an avid four-wall handball player for more than three decades.

Ted has been a dedicated husband and father, and enjoys his retirement with his wife and family in Los Angeles.

Ted and Aspasia celebrated their sixty-third wedding anniverary in 2015 and on a fateful evening on July 30th, 2016, Ted and Aspasia were rendered unconscious and passed away together from smoke inhalation from a fire in an adjacent room in their home. Ted was 91 and Aspasia was 90.