Jerry Drakatos

Yerasimos “Jerry” Drakatos passed away peacefully on May 11, 2023 after a very brief illness. He was born on March 6, 1932 on the island of Ithaka, Greece and was not the only one born that day. Surprisingly to everyone present, he had a twin sister born that day also.

His first memories of life on the island were during the turbulent times of WWII. He recounted many stories of growing up during the war, and the mischievous adventures he and his twin sister had playing with gunpowder, bullets and hand grenades that had been left by the occupying soldiers.

At age 17, filled with wanderlust and curiosity he joined the Merchant Marines and sailed around the world on the famed Liberty ships. He was a master storyteller whose animated reenactments of his experiences and misadventures on these ships are often referred to by family and friends. There was the plate washing incident, stealing the Captain’s cookies, the falling in a hole, bye bye anchor, the lost finger, the NYE collision, the watermelon disappearance and the dreaded steak with sawdust to name a few. He learned and we later learned so much about life from these stories. Our family never sends food back at a restaurant for fear it will be covered in sawdust and then cooked!

After 5 years at sea, he came to the United States in 1953 and reunited with his family that had emigrated here. His parents, Spiros and Akrivi along with most of his 5 siblings were living in Bethlehem, PA when he arrived. Not speaking any English or knowing how to drive when he arrived, he was a quick study and soon was doing both while working as a bread baker. He made life-long friends while in Bethlehem who eventually were the reason he came to Florida.

When his family decided to relocate to NYC a few years later, he rejoined the Merchant Marines for a brief period and then eventually returned to the US to be with his family. Not only did his immediate family now live in NYC, a great many of the extended maternal side of his family also lived there. It was there that he met, while at a friends home for a poker game, his future wife, Eva. They often said when asked where they met, that he won her in a poker game.

Jerry and Eva married in 1957 and made a home in the Bronx while running a bread baking business, the Athene’s Bakery. By 1958 Eva had a “bun” in the oven that was born, daughter Arestoula, and later in 1960, another “bun”, daughter Maria, was born. His new young family along with Eva’s mother, relocated to New Jersey in 1961 and they lived there for the next 29 years. Once in NJ, Jerry changed careers from bread baking to painter, which accidentally and serendipitously reunited him with a shipmate from the Merchant Marines. He eventually gave up painting when he got his CDL driving license and then his adventures on the road with 18 wheelers began. Initially hauling building materials within NJ, mostly large rocks, to the Princeton Proton Propulsion Lab, Great Adventure, Atlantic City and the often “breeched by a storm” seawall in Sea Bright, NJ.

In 1986 Jerry & Eva purchased a home in Holiday, FL to visit in the winter and by 1990 they moved there permanently. His adventures on the road were paused while he “ retired “, for about 10 minutes, and soon he was on the road again, this time with a partner doing long hauls across the US and into Canada. He travelled to 28 states and often brought something back home with him. Once he brought a small eucalyptus tree from California that was planted in their backyard and it grew there for the past 29 years. When the long hauls trips ended he filled his time with short hauls for a bridge painting company, moving materials from one site to another, often to different states. He finally retired from the road in 2010 at age 78.

The next 13 years were filled with keeping busy at home, visiting family & friends and a few road trips around the country. He was the navigator from the passenger seat down the California coast from North to South, circumnavigating the Florida coasts, and through 8 states from Florida to Santa Fe, NM. He did 4 trips in the last 6 months of his life. He flew to NYC twice and was on a roadtrip twice to the east coast without incident at the age of 90.

Now he is on the road again…”breaker, breaker, this is OPA-OPA, come back”

He is survived by his daughter Arestoula (John), daughter Maria (Scott), one grandchild, Katharine, his eldest sister Georgia, younger twin brothers and their wives Andonis ( Zoi) and Deonisios ( Eleni), and 14 nieces and nephews which many of them have said he was the “cool Uncle”.

He was pre-deceased six months ago by is his wife of 65 years, Eva (Markadonatos) and many years ago by his parents Spiros and Akrivi. His twin sister Maria passed away in 2014 and his eldest brother Efthimios, (to us all , Tommy), in 2020.

Donations in his honor can be made to St George Greek Orthodox Church, 9426 Little Road, New Port Richey, FL, 34654 or online at https://abundant.co/stgeorgeorthodox/give.select “In Honor of” and write: Yerasimos Jerry Drakatos Live funeral service broadcast at https://www.stgeorgenpr.org/

Flowers for the funeral can be sent, but must arrive by Friday May 19, to Meadowlawn Funeral Home and Memorial Garden, 4244 Madison St, New Port Richey, FL 34652

A visitation for Jerry will be held Saturday, May 20, 2023 from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM at Saint George Greek Orthodox Church, 9426 Little Rd., New Port Richey, FL 34654. A funeral service will occur Saturday, May 20, 2023 from 12:30 PM to 1:15 PM, 9426 Little Rd., New Port Richey, FL 34654. A graveside service will occur Saturday, May 20, 2023 from 1:30 PM to 2:00 PM at Meadowlawn Funeral Home and Memorial Gardens, 4244 Madison Street, New Port Richey, FL 34652.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.meadowlawnfuneralhome.com for the Drakatos family.