Obituary of James D. Demos

Jim Demos didnt have an enemy in this world. He always said that you must accept everyone with their good points and their faults. This was what he practiced throughout his life. It was because of this wonderful character trait that his friends are legion. He will be remembered for his gentleness and his soft-spoken words. Jim died on Wednesday, December 3, at Hackensack University Medical Center from complications of pneumonia. He was 71 years of age. In 1995, he was a recipient of a liver transplant, and since that time he was a staunch advocate of organ donation programs. He was born in Athens, Greece, and migrated to the United States with his family at age of 13. He grew up in Jersey City and graduated from Dickenson High School and St. Peters College. After a stint in the US Army, Jim worked with the New Jersey Division of Youth Services as a parole officer. He worked as a probation officer for the Federal Courts System in New York City and as a supervising federal probation officer in the Newark, NJ office, retiring in 1987. Since his retirement, he pursued his scholarly interests of both ancient and modern Greek history, the history of the Greek Orthodox Church, Byzantine music, and ancient Greek cooking. He was an avid collector of Greek stamps and ancient Greek and Roman coins. He was a past president and currently active member of the Hellenic Philatelic Association, and he published a number of articles about the history of Greek stamps. He was also a past president and currently active member of the Queen City Stamp Club and the Watchung Hills Coin Club, which meet in Warren every two weeks. Jim was a devout Greek Orthodox Christian who loved his church. He was a former parish council member of Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Westfield, NJ. He was also a member of the church choir. As a young adult, he was very active in GOYA, the Greek Orthodox Youth Association, and participated in many of their activities as a representative of Saint Demetrios Church in Jersey City. For a number of years during the 1960s and 70s, Jim had a musical group called The Golden Bouzoukia, in which he was the lead singer and guitarist. Known for their excellent talent, they played Greek music for entertainment at social affairs. The Golden Bouzoukia made three record albums; they are most famous for having recorded the No Dancing in the Aisles music for an advertisement for Olympic Airlines. He is survived by his devoted wife, Kathryn, his sons, Jason and Gregory, his brother, Charles, his sister-in-law, Mary, his nephews Nick and George, his aunt, Christine Anastasiadou and his mother-in-law, Frieda Sapios. The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, that a memorial donation be made to Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, 250 Gallows Hill Road, Westfield, NJ 07090. Visitation will be at the Higgins Funeral Home, 752 Mountain Boulevard, Watchung, NJ, on Sunday, December 7, from 2-4PM and 7-9PM. Funeral services will be held on Monday, December 8, at 10AM at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church Building Fund in Westfield.