John N. Metropulos, age 81, died in his home in Park Ridge Tuesday,May 7 after a prolonged battle with cancer. From the time he arrived in this country from his native Greece at age 8, Mr. Metropulos worked hard to provide for his family – along with his father, uncles and brothers, he worked as a boy and young man at the family’s produce business on the South Side of Chicago. After graduation from Harrison High School and a year at the University of Illinois at ChampaignUrbana, he served his country as a lieutenant in the Army’s Engineer Corps in the Philippines. In 1942 he married Velia Vietti, with whom he celebrated the births of seven children over the course of 19 years. After the war, he located in the Springfield area, first working as a salesman for Guardian Service Cookware, and then for the Sterling Insurance Company. He returned to the Chicago area in 1953, where he established his own agency in Park Ridge, J.N. Metropulos and Associates, Inc., affiliated with All American Life Insurance Company, for which he also served on the Board of Directors for many years. Mr. Metropulos had also been a longtime member of Masonic Lodge #71, the Shriners, the Elks Club, Lions Club, the Park Ridge Country Club and Bent Pine Golf Club in Vero Beach, Florida, where he and his wife maintained a winter residence. Besides his family, his great passions were golf and gardening. He was a founding member of St. John’s Greek Orthodox Church in Des Plaines. Survivors include his wife Velia; children Diane (Dr. Donald) Kurten, John (Martha), Raymond, Linda (William) Lafe, Tim (Josephine), Ann (Craig) Addis, and James; grandchildren Shana, Matthew, John III, Dana, Janine, Jerrod, Tom, John Michael, Kristina and Charlie; great-grandchildren Nicolas and Samuel; a brother Christ (Irene); and many nieces and nephews. Funeral Friday May 10, 11:15 a.m. from Ryan-Parke Funeral Home, 120 S. Northwest Hwy. (2 blocks S. of Touhy), Park Ridge to St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church, 2350 E. Dempster St, Des Plaines for 12 noon service. Interment Town of Maine Cemetery. Visitation 3-8 p.m. Thursday. Memorials to Rainbow Hospice, 444 N. Northwest Hwy, #145, Park Ridge, IL 60068 or The American Cancer Society appreciated. 847-823-1171.
