Alex Pappas went from serving his country in the Army for six years starting at age 18 to serving students on the dance floor by teaching them ballroom dancing until age 94. From battle stations to ballrooms, Pappas, who passed away April 24, just shy of his 95th birthday, led a life of service. Related Articles Walnut Creek’s Allison Tabor and her husband, Paris (Perry), first met Pappas in 1986, when they signed up for his introductory ballroom dancing class.
“Alex was a dancer’s dancer; he was a tough and exacting perfectionist, blending a choreographer’s feel for movement with an innate sense of musical flow,” said Tabor. “He had a deep passion for the Argentine tango, which he continued to teach and perform throughout his life.” Pappas taught everywhere in the Bay Area, including Antioch, the Pittsburg Yacht club, a ballet studio in Pleasant Hill, Encore Studios in Elk Grove and as a guest instructor at San Francisco’s Metronome Ballroom.
Born on July 19, 1929, and raised in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Pappas during his U.S. Army years was based in Hawaii and deployed to the Eniwetok and Kwajalein Atolls in the Marshall Islands, where as a corporal he served as a radio operator during tests of the atomic bomb.
He also learned ballroom dancing while in the Army. When he completed his time in the service, he relocated to Topeka, Kansas, where he became a ballroom instructor for the Arthur Murray chain of dance studios and Pappas’ (former) wife, Betty. Tabor s.
