John Staurulakis - Obituary

ohn Staurulakis, 84, a 25-year resident of Boca Raton, FL and previously of Maryland, passed away on October 13, 2014 in Boca Raton after a 2-year illness. Born on September 28, 1930 in Valley Stream, NY and raised in Crete, Greece, John received a Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree and a Masters of Business Administration degree from City College in New York. He served as a private in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. John began his career at the New York Public Service Commission and U.S. Independent Telephone Association, where he developed the framework for independent and cooperative companies to secure a stronger bargaining position at the telephone industry’s financial table. With the launch of his own company, John Staurulakis, Inc. (JSI) in 1962, he formalized and established his important role in ensuring that rural Americans would have access to reliable telephone service in their communities. John held many industry leadership positions including founder of OPASTCO in 1963. Among the many honors he received from across the nation, John was the first recipient of NTCA’s Associate Member Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999. He retired from JSI’s day-to-day operations in 1997 but continued as chairman until his passing. John was preceded in death by his wife, Chresanthe (Chris), who died in 2009. He is survived by a sister, Mary Stamboulis of West Palm Beach, FL; three children, Manny (Bessie) Staurulakis of McLean, VA, Leo (Cheryl) Staurulakis of Annapolis, MD and Joanne (Jerry) Scheller of Boca Raton, FL; and eight grandchildren. Friends are invited to John’s Life Celebration from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. on Sunday, October 19 at the George P. Kalas Funeral Home, 2973 Solomons Island Road, Edgewater, MD. His funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on Monday, October 20 at Ss. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church, 2747 Riva Road, Annapolis, MD. Interment will be at St. Demetrios Cemetery in Annapolis. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to: The Chresanthe Staurulakis Memorial Fund The Johns Hopkins Scleroderma Center 4940 Eastern Avenue B1 North, Suite 114B Baltimore, MD 21224 An online guestbook is available by accessing the link on this page.