Priest who led local Greek church dies in car crash

[Prokomenos]

The Rev. Nicholas Katsoulis and his wife, Anthoulla, in 1985

KINGSTON - A priest who was the first pastor of St. George Greek Orthodox Church on Greenkill Avenue was killed in a car crash last week in Greece while vacationing there with his wife.

The Rev. Nicholas Katsoulis 70, who most recently lived in the Bayside section of Queens, died on Thursday after the vehicle he was driving was rammed by a car driven by a 30-year-old man, according to the online version of the Cyprus Mail.

Katsoulis, who served the Kingston church from in the 1960s and early 1970s, reportedly was driving on the Nicosia-Limassol motorway with his wife, Anthoulla, 68, when the accident occurred. Police told the Cyprus Mail that the impact was "severe."

The car caught fire and Mrs. Katsoulis was able to escape, but her husband was trapped and died, the newspaper reported.

Hurley resident Evi Larios, whose husband, Chris, organized St. George Greek Orthodox Church in 1963 and oversaw its construction in 1964, described Katsoulis as a handsome, pleasant, soft-spoken man. She said Katsoulis often referred to the church, where he served as pastor for eight years, as "Hope on the Hill."


Katsoulis often came back to Ulster County to officiate at the funerals of parishioners or their relatives, Mrs. Larios said. He also officiated at the 1985 wedding of the Larioses' son, Dennis, a well-known Kingston engineer.

Katsoulis was assigned to the local congregation when its services still were being held at the Holy Cross Episcopal Church in Pine Grove Avenue. But the local Greek Orthodox community already had a plan by that time to build its own church.

Mrs. Larios said Katsoulis was brought in after the community, which had been relying on visiting pastors, decided it needed its own priest. She said the community learned Katsoulis was being ordained in 1963 so she and her husband went to the ordination ceremony at St. Demietrios Church in Astoria, Queens.

"We meet with the bishop and begged for him," Mrs. Larios said.

After Katsoulis was assigned to lead the Kingston parish, his first service was conducted on Easter in 1963, Mrs. Larios said. The St. George building that now stands at 294 Greenkill Ave. in Kingston was built in 1964, and the first service there was held on Christmas Day that year.

Katsoulis served the Kingston church for eight years and then went on to pastor other Greek Orthodox churches, including one in Rockland County, Mrs. Larios said.

She said the Kingston church currently has between 100 and 125 members.

Katsoulis was born on the island of Crete on Nov. 3, 1936. He studied came to the United States after graduating from the Theological Seminary of Halki at Constantinople.

He married the former Ann Savas, on ..he couple had two daughters, Renee and Sophia, who survive, Mrs. Larios said.

Katsoulis also is survived by five grandchildren.

[gmellos]

RIP!!!!!!!