The founder of Boris’ Fruit Shed was farewelled at a funeral service at the Shepparton Greek Orthodox Church in April.
Boris Mladenov established the Benalla Rd business in the 1970s, and despite the changing fortunes of horticulture in the Goulburn Valley, kept his orchard and maintained the retail outlet.
Boris was born in Diva Slatina, a small village in the Bulgarian mountains on August 15, 1933.
Boris sought a better life, so he fled on foot from Bulgaria and into neighbouring Serbia where he dodged bullets from the communist army while making his way to Slovenia, where he stayed for three months in a refugee camp.
From there he moved to Italy for 12 months until he could find a place in a migration program that brought him to Australia.
He was 21 when he arrived at the Bonegilla Migrant camp near Wodonga.
For the first time Boris experienced real freedom, and he come to love his new life in Australia.
Over the next few years he worked in a number of places, including an open cut mine, the construction of Dartmouth Dam and cutting sugar cane in Queensland.
A search for work brought him to Shepparton East where he met and married Carmela (Emily).
They worked in Gippsland for a while but they missed the Shepparton family and so returned, where they worked on the orchard and soon earned enough money to buy the Benalla Rd property.
Children followed, with the arrival of Venetta, Jeff and Yvonne.
Out of the hardship of the 1970s fruit price collapse, the idea of a shop was born, where he could sell produce directly to the public.
Boris would travel twice a week to the Footscray market to buy fruit, vegetables, nuts and flowers until he was in his 80s, when he spent more time with his grandchildren: Xavier, Nicholas, Olivia and Michael.
He never forgot his mother and two sisters in Bulgaria and routinely sent money to them.
About 20 years ago, Boris returned to his birthplace for the first time and found he had a reputation as a village success story.
He was included in a television documentary screened in Bulgaria and a monument in his name stands in his home village.
Although Boris had to wind down his involvement in the business, the Fruit Shed continues to this day run by his son Jeff and daughter-in-law Josie.
He spent more time in his garden and was proud of his chillies. He had been out in the garden the week before he died.
Boris Mladenov died at home on Friday, April 19.
A service was held at the Shepparton Greek Orthodox Church, and he was interred at the Pine Lodge Lawn Cemetery.