Several dozen family and friends gathered at Assumption Greek Orthodox Church in Chicago Thursday to say goodbye to long-time River Forest resident George Paterakis.
Paterakis, 86, died peacefully at his home Sept. 1.
The 56-year resident of River Forest was better known by his Anglicized name of Parry, His wife of 55 years, Angela, a retired art professor and educational advocate, passed away in May, 2013.
At his funeral mass, Paterakis was eulogized as a “philanthropic man who loved the Island of Crete, who loved Northwestern football and who was involved in his community.”
Paterakis was born in 1928 and grew up in the North Austin community, and graduated from Austin High School in 1945 after just three years. He was accepted to Northwestern University, where he earned degrees in finance and marketing.
Between 1952 and 1954, he served in the U.S. Army, stationed at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington D.C.
For more than 40 years he ran his own business specializing in mergers and acquisitions.
For decades Paterakis was known for his tireless civic engagement and volunteering. Over those years he also developed a reputation as the unofficial repository of River Forest’s institutional memory.
Paterakis became active civically soon after he and Angela moved to River Forest in 1958. He helped run numerous political campaigns and organized several referenda, including one for a District 90 property tax hike and two referenda authorizing the sale of liquor in the village.
For 22 years Paterakis was a trustee and advisor to the River Forest Police pension fund, and friend and advisor to numerous police officers.
Paterakis was instrumental in the 1985 election of Realtor Thomas Cusack as village president, and later helped then-trustee Frank Paris win election to his first term as village president.
His final hurrah was in 2013, when he advised Cathy Adduci in her successful run for village president. Adduci, who attended the funeral services, expressed admiration for Paterakis’s commitment and dedication to River Forest.
“He was a big supporter and very involved in our community,” Aducci said. “He cared about our community, about the police department, about their pensions. He cared about everything that mattered.”
Reflecting the esteem in which Paterakis was held in the village, two former village trustees, Steve Hoke and Michael O’Connell served as his pallbearers, and a River Forest police car took part in his funeral procession.
Paterakis was also an amateur historian and proud of his Greek heritage. He traced his family history back to 1196 and the Ottoman Empire. Or, as he put it in a 2008 interview with Wednesday Journal, “around the time the fourth Crusaders decided to make a left turn and ransacked Constantinople in 1204.”
His life-long friend, journalist Paul Zimbrakos said Paterakis will be dearly missed.
“What can I say, he’s a man for all seasons,” said Zimbrakos. “A great friend and just a good, trusted person.”
Editors note: Paul Zimbrakos was previously spelled as Paul Zembrakis. Zimbrakos is the correct spelling of Paul’s name.