John P. Karoussos
John Pantelis Karoussos, who opened a popular restaurant named Jason’s in Washington, D.C., after attending Catholic University there, died on Monday at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital of prostate cancer. He was 74 and had been ill for a year and a half. Mr. Karoussos, who had a house on Stony Hill Road in Amagansett, was born on June 22, 1944, in Athens. Throughout his life, even after moving to New York and having a long career in finance, neither the spirit of his native country nor his inclination to host gatherings for his large circle of extended family and friends ever left him, his family said.
“Our house was always filled with family and friends. There was always food, drinks, music, and laughter,” Mr. Karoussos’s daughter, Katie Zapata of Greenwich, Conn., said.
Mr. Karoussos was the son of Pantelis John Karoussos and the former Despina Thomaidou. He came to the United States when he was 16.
It was at Jason’s that he met his future wife, Mary Ann Barnes of Garden City. They were married on Sept. 21, 1974, and bought the Amagansett house in 1982. They moved there full time in 1997.
After Mr. Karoussos retired from up in a career with E.F. Hutton and Citibank, the couple began spending winters in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, where they made many friends from around the world.
In addition to his wife and daughter Ms. Zapata, Mr. Karoussos is survived by two other children, Telly Karoussos of Amagansett and Alex Karoussos of Sayville, and by eight grandchildren.
A service for Mr. Karoussos will be held at 1 p.m. tomorrow at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in East Hampton, followed by a reception at his house. Burial will be private.
The family has suggested memorial donations to the Wounded Warrior Project, P.O. Box 758517, Topeka, Kan., 66675-8517, or St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, Tenn. 38105, organizations “John held close to his heart,” the family said.
The family also commended the staff of Stony Brook Southampton Hospital’s intensive care unit for “compassionate care and loving support” of Mr. Karoussos and his family.