Owner of Food-Flavoring Firm Created Popular Perma-Fresh Product
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
George A. Calevas, 95, the president of a company that manufactured a variety of fruit juice concentrates, flavoring
extracts and cocktail mixes, died March 17 of arrhythmia at Carriage Hill of Bethesda. He was a Chevy Chase resident.
Mr. Calevas was born George Arthur Calevas to Greek immigrant parents who settled in Norfolk in 1910. The family
moved to Washington in 1921, and Mr. Calevas graduated from McKinley High School. He served in the Army's 348th
Ordnance Battalion during World War II.
His father had a company called Calevas Foods that made flavorings and a signature meat tenderizer called Yessi. Mr.
Calevas took over the company in 1946 and changed the name to Calevas Laboratories.
"He started tinkering around with essences and flavors, and he concocted the formula for a product called
Perma-Fresh," recalled Mark Simon, who would buy the company from Mr. Calevas in 1985. The product, still sold to
food service companies and used in bars and restaurants, is a very strong lemon concentrate made from lemon oils. It
contains no artificial flavoring.
Simon, who noted that Mr. Calevas was completely self-taught, called Perma-Fresh "the most well-known sweet and sour
mix used in the U.S. today. It makes a great margarita," he said.
Mr. Calevas retired when he sold the company and spent time on cruises and at the family's summer home in Piney
Point, Md. He was a member of Temple-Noyes Cathedral Lodge 32, the Royal Order of Jesters and Almas Shriners. He
also was a longtime member and benefactor of St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral.
Survivors include his wife of 61 years, Pauline Sarhosis Calevas of Chevy Chase; and a brother, Harry Calevas of
Bethesda.
-- Joe Holley