He loved Chania so much that he refused to return back to his homeland during the ethnic and religious population exchange in 1922. He remained in his beloved city, offering his smile, his generosity and his unconditional eagerness to give a helping hand to the helpless and to those in need.
The testimonies of his unconditional heart are countless. He prepared bags of groceries and goods, offering them to families with many children and to orphans anonymously. He once won the lottery and gave away the winnings to two young orphan women to help them get married. He defied danger and saved people from drowning. He was running fundraisers in order to restore churches and monuments. His good deeds left a lasting footprint in the entire city.
As he got older and weaker he had to stop working on the harbor which forced him to sell his home in the Koum Kapi Egyptian neighborhood in order to survive. Many of the locals took action in his aid because there was a unanimous sentiment urging the community to repay the good he had so gracefully been giving all these years. He became a Greek citizen and got a small pension from the Greek government but even then, Salis gave most of it to his fellow citizens in need.
He passed away on the 29th of February 1967, peacefully in his sleep. He is now buried at St Lucas cemetery, with a memorial plate that says that even though he was black, his pure soul was whiter than snow…To this day, the elders who remember him, talk about the kindest citizen of Chania that ever lived…