John George Psaris' Obituary
On the morning of August 19th, 2024, John George Psaris passed away peacefully at Loudon Inova Hospital, Landsdowne VA. He was one month shy of his 101 year old birthday.
John was born in New York City to George and Argero Psaris – emigrants from Greece – on September 28th, 1923. Against the wishes of his parents, he volunteered for the Army in 1943 and spoke frequently of his time in the army as some of the most exciting years of his life. He left the army after three years at the request of his parents who needed his financial support.
John met and married the love of his life, Helen Varvisotis, on December 5th, 1953 and they spent the majority of their householder years in Fort Lee, N.J. where they raised their two girls, Patti and Georgette (Jett) Psaris.
John was an entrepreneur at heart and at 33 years of age he started and ran his first company, Precision Metal Products, for almost 30 years until his retirement at age 62. He also manufactured a line of shoe shine products and owned 16 racehorses over the course of 20 years.
When asked over the years what he felt most proud of he always answered, without hesitation, that he was most proud of giving people good honest work through which they could support their families.
Throughout his life John loved to fish and shared this love with friends and family. Later in life he took up building and flying model airplanes, becoming a flight instructor to over 100 students at various NJ and VA flying clubs. Nothing made John happier than to have a fishing pole, a radio-controlled model airplane flight box or a deck of cards in his hands. Later in life John became an avid reader of military, mystery and romance novels. In the last 10 years of his life, he enjoyed playing the slot machines at the Casino -- where he said “all his aches and pains would disappear for a few hours” -- along with his lifelong daily practice of reading the bible.
On November 4th, 2023, John was celebrated -- for his 100th birthday and his WWII military service -- by the Chariots of Honor. Several hundred cars paraded past his home saluting him, wishing him a happy birthday and thanking him for his service. That was a very special day in John’s life.
John is preceded in death by his beloved wife Helene and survived by his 2 daughters Patti and Jett, treasured grand-daughters Leigh and Alexandra Psaris, son-in-law Mike Killmon, and Alexandra and Mike’s daughters Quinn and Claire.
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