Evangelos George Bastounis

 

Evangelos (Angelo) George Bastounis peacefully passed on to paradise on Sunday, February 26, 2023. Angelo was known in Saginaw as a tailor and wine maker from the old country, his country of origin—Greece.  Born in 1933 in Athikia, of Corinthos, Greece, to Eleni and George Bastounis, Angelo was blessed to have seven brothers and sisters with whom he shared close and abiding lifelong bonds. During his childhood and youth, Angelo lived through the ravages of World War II in Greece, avoiding partisanship as directed by his father and suffering the death of his beloved mother. Following the War, Greece bore the scourge of a civil war, which shaped Angelo in his formative years. He bravely endured the devastation of the civil war, again avoiding partisanship.   

 

Angelo was the third of the brood, and he worked in the fields, abandoning his education for which he had a great thirst, and caring for his younger brothers and sisters, fulfilling a promise he made to his mother. When Angelo was fourteen years old he became a tailor’s apprentice in Corinth, Greece, the big city, where he learned his trade as a master tailor, an art for which he had great talent and that he would hone and polish for the rest of his life. 

 

As is mandatory in Greece, Angelo joined the military service at the appropriate time and was stationed as a tourist policeman in Ancient Olympia. There, he met the beautiful and captivating Chrysoula with whom he fell in love, as she did with him. They married and began a new adventure in their life together by crossing the Atlantic and settling with Angelo’s brothers in Canada. In Canada, Angelo and Chrysoula lived in a big house with Angelo’s brothers and their wives, sharing in joys and sorrows, and work and leisure, continuing the loving family they had in Greece.   

 

Angelo learned to be a welder in Canada and learned welding-shop English before formal English. The vocabulary of the welding shop, which he drew upon later in life, caused him some embarrassment and provided hilarious stories he told his children and friends.   

 

After several failed attempts at having children, for which they both longed, Angelo and Chrysoula heard about a doctor in London, Ontario, a thousand miles away, who might be able to help them.  With no more information than that, they sold everything they had and moved to London, knowing no one there. The Greek community in London welcomed them, however, and in that community, they made many lifelong friends and baptized many Godchildren, whom they cherished and loved. After learning the name of the doctor through many inquiries, they successfully had two daughters and a son, upon whom they showered love and affection.   

 

In 1972 Angelo realized his lifelong dream of living in America, and later becoming an American citizen, when he and his family moved to Saginaw, Michigan, where Edward's Men’s Shop sponsored him as a master tailor.  There, Angelo thrived until he realized another of his dreams, that of being a business owner.  Angelo and Chrysoula were embraced by the Greek community at St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church, where Angelo made many lifelong friends. He volunteered his time and attention there in the service of God and St. Demetrios in accordance with Angelo’s devout faith.   

 

Angelo and Chrysoula eventually owned and operated a laundromat on State Street where Angelo also had his tailor shop serving the entire Saginaw community. Angelo was a very social and charismatic man and got to know his customers as friends, some following him in his career as tailor for many years. Angelo went on to finish his high school degree and to acquire his associates degree in business, attaining another lifelong dream. 

 

It was during this relatively tranquil time in his children’s young adulthood that Angelo’s son, George, was diagnosed with lymphoma. Angelo vowed that his son would never be alone during his illness, and Angelo was always with George even during his stays in the hospitals in Saginaw and Detroit.  Unfortunately, George did not survive his illness and passed on to paradise, to the utter devastation of his parents and sisters. Angelo’s business was shuttered. Angelo and Chrysoula grieved their son but celebrated the happiness of their daughters who married and had children of their own.  The grandchildren all delighted their grandparents and distracted them from their grief and pain. Angelo and Chrysoula made many memorable and meaningful trips to Italy and Denver to spend time with their daughters and their families.   

 

Angelo worked as a tailor for Jacobson’s and then the Men’s Wearhouse for several years before his retirement, making many friends and attracting new customers.  Following his retirement, Angelo opened his own tailor shop and continued to serve the community as a master tailor. Angelo also, and more significantly he would say, worked ceaselessly to make his home and property into the Greece he wished Greece would have been for him, planting a vineyard, walnut trees, fruit trees, and a garden and acquiring and tending beehives. He would cultivate these endeavors throughout his life, laboring especially after his retirement, in this bliss and delight that he had created and tirelessly nurtured.  Angelo became a learned winemaker with a harvest of grapes from his vineyard, yielding several different varieties of wine each fall, all organic and creative in their taste, bouquet, and color.  His friends came from far and wide to participate in wine tastings at his home, and he freely gave his wine and fresh honey to every friend and acquaintance he made.  His gifts of wine and honey were legendary. They will be missed. 

 

Angelo is preceded in death by his wife Chrysoula Bastounis, his son George Bastounis, his sisters Sophia Souchlas and Katina Lagos, as well as his brothers Dimitris Bastounis and Christos Bastounis, all of blessed memory.   

 

Angelo is survived by his beloved daughters Eleni Bastounis (Aleko Tsantinis) and Georgia Bastounis Lowe (Henry Lowe) and adored grandchildren Chrysoula Gounaris, Spiro Tsantinis and Evangelos George Lowe, as well as his brother Panos Bastounis and many loved friends and relatives.   

 

Funeral service will take place at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, March 6, 2023, at St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church, 4970 Mackinaw Road, Saginaw, Michigan 48603. Fr. Timothy Cook will officiate. Burial will follow at Holy Dormition Monastery Cemetery, 3389 Rives Eaton Road, Rives Junction, Michigan 49277. Friends may visit the family from 3:00 – 9:00 p.m. on Sunday, March 5, 2023, at W. L. Case and Company Funeral Chapel, 4480 Mackinaw Road, Saginaw, Michigan 48603; and from 9:00 a.m.until the time of service at the church on Monday. A Trisagion will take place on Sunday at 7:00 p.m. at the funeral chapel. In lieu of flowers, those planning an expression of sympathy may wish to consider memorials to St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church, 4970 Mackinaw Road, Saginaw, Michigan 48603; or Holy Dormition Monastery, P.O. Box 128, Rives Junction, Michigan 49277.