Obituary of Constantine Koutris

Constantine George Koutris ?Gus? Asheville ? Constantine Koutris¸ 72, of Candler NC, died August 23, 2009, at the Levine and Dickson Hospice House in Huntersville, NC battling with Parkinson?s disease. Born in Thessaloniki, Greece on March 6, 1937, Mr. Koutris was the son of the late George and Aphrodite Papadopoulos Koutris of Domiani Evrytanias Greece. He was also preceded in death by in-laws Rev. & Mrs. O.P. Ledford, and grand-daughter Elena Aphrodite Pistiolis. After attending school in Greece, he went to the police academy in Athens and became a policeman. He came to the United States in 1964 and attended Mars Hill College. Mr. Koutris was a very hard worker in the restaurant business in Asheville and surrounding communities for over 40 years. He opened his first restaurant, the Big Apple, on Swannanoa River Rd., in Asheville NC, after working for McDonalds, Colonial Bakery, and then he co-founded the Burgerland Restaurants of Candler, Asheville, Brevard, Fletcher, Hendersonville, and Arden. Mr. Koutris was also co-owner of the Asheville speedway during the Richard Petty era. Mr. Koutris loved to fish and hunt before his illness. Constantine was an active member of Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church of Asheville, as well as a past Parish Council President, and a member of the Ahepa Association. He was a former Vice-President of the National Evrytanian Association, the Domianitis Association, and the Fidakia Association. He is survived by his wife of 43 years, Margaret Ledford Koutris of Candler; daughter Aphrodite (Dee Dee) Pistiolis and husband, Konstantinos (Gus) Pistiolis of Matthews; five grandchildren, Serafim (Mike), Margarita, Maria, George and Nicoletta; sisters, Katina Koutris Zoumbos and husband, Christos Zoumbos of Candler, Niki Koutris Papanicolaou and husband, George Papanicolaou of Athens, Greece, Maria Koutris Hamberis and husband, Theodore Hamberis of Athens, Greece, brothers-in-law Johnny Ledford and wife, Dot of Mt. Holly, NC¸ Buddy Ledford and wife, June of Canton, NC, George Ledford and wife, Peggy of Candler, NC, James Ledford and wife, Brenda of Canton, NC, sister-in-law, Betty Kuykendall of Florida; aunt, Joan Aliferis of Asheville; uncle, Jimmy Pappas and wife, Helen of Asheville, NC; aunt, Stavroula Gouvas of Greece; several nieces and nephews and cousins in NC and in Greece. Godchildren of Mr. Koutris are Georgia Gilman Bendo, Kosta Sakkas, Eleni and Peggy Fragopoulos, Margarita Vlamis, Antonia Ginis, Panayiotis Thanos, name sake Constantine Thanos and very special friend George Thanos. The family would like to give a special thanks to Hospice of Asheville, Hospice of Charlotte, to the staff and Dr. Janet Crook MD at Levine & Dickson Hospice House of Huntersville, Dr. Andrea Diedrich MD and especially Dr. Peter Copsis MD for his wonderful care and concern to our family. Pallbearers for the service are George Thanos, Kosta Sakkas, Angelo Sakkas, Kosta Rantzos, Bill Zoumbos, Gus Barlas, Milton Poulos, and Andy Apostolopoulos. Officiating the services are Fathers Michael Varvarelis, Efsthathios Varvarelis, Nicholas Spirakis, and Demetrios Iliou, The family will be at the home of Mr. Koutris? daughter, Dee Dee Pistiolis, at 424 Clairview Lane, Matthews NC 28105. A Trisagion will be held at 7:00 p.m. Tuesday, August 25th, 2009, at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral at 600 East Boulevard, Charlotte, NC. The funeral service will be at 11:00 a.m. Wednesday, August 26th, 2009 at the Cathedral. Interment will follow at Evergreen Cemetery in Charlotte, NC. A luncheon will take place following the graveside service at the Cathedral in the Father C Hall on East Blvd. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the following, Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, P.O. Box 8369, Asheville, NC 28814 or to Elatos, Panagia Prousiotissa, 121 Greenwich Road, Charlotte, NC 28211.