John Poulos

John Poulos was born in Hyde Park, MA, near Boston, son of Thomas Giotopoulos and Elefthería Karayiannis. Thomas came from his native Greece to America in 1912, after he was chosen by his brothers to be the one to seek his fortune here. Elefthería arrived separately to Pennsylvania to work for an uncle. She first married the father of John's half brother, the late Theodore (Ted) Poulos, then lost him to the influenza epidemic of 1918, spread by soldiers returning from WWI.

John grew up in Bayshore and Patchogue, Long Island, NY. He finished high school in Patchogue but continued to work for two more years at his father's soda fountain and candy shop in a movie theatre lobby. By then, the family had shortened their surname to Poulos, as did many other Greek descendants, tired of having their names misspelled. When, true to his word, his father completed providing dowries for his nieces in Greece, he was able to help John pay to study commerce at New York University. John particularly enjoyed writing advertising copy at NYU.

After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, John enlisted in the army air force, where he trained to be a meteorologist. His adventures on the home front are by now part of his family's oral tradition. The war over, 1st Lieutenant Poulos in 1946 saw an ad in the New York Times by Pan American Grace Airways calling for a meteorologist in South America. John went promptly to the Pan American office in the Chrysler building and was immediately hired. Soon thereafter he flew in a series of DC-3 aircraft until his first assignment in Lima, Perú. Later that year he reached the Morón airport of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Descending from the airplane, he set his eyes and then his mind on a young ground hostess who he thought resembled then glamorous Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman. Obstacles were surmounted and John and Nora were married in 1947. When the couple moved with Panagra to Santiago, Chile in 1948, John had added to his life two measures that would accompany him till the end of his days: Nora and his love for the tango.

John and Nora's three children were born in Chile: Thomas (1952); John Christopher (1954): and Stephen (1958). The family lived in Chile until 1971. Those were years of enormous change in aviation, particularly in the case of flying the Andes. When low-altitude unpressurized 21 seat propeller planes flew through mountain passses, the airlines required innumerable weather observation stations. When they were replaced by high-flying pressurized jetliners and modern communications allowed sending information over great distances, the weather forecasting for Braniff Airways of Dallas, TX (who bought out Panagra in 1976) could be done from the office in Santiago. In the years in which John and his assistants forecasted South American weather, the airlines they worked for developed an enviable safety record. Their greatest legacy may be the phenomenal number of passengers who reached their destination in one piece. The Poulos family was among them, because, as an airline employee, John took full advantage of his travel privileges to take his young family on trips to distant places at every opportunity

In 1971 the Poulos family and those of the other Santiago meteorologists moved to Dallas, continuing their forecasting from Love Field. When Braniff went bankrupt in 1986, John did some consulting work for the airlines that took over the Braniff South American routes, but after he retired his interests focused on world travel, visiting most of the great cities in Europe and places as far away as Hong Kong, often with his youngest son Stephen, and assistant coaching his grandson Alexander's baseball teams. He also served as "honorary grandfather" to Alex's little league (the regular supply of apple juice and cookies at practices may have contributed to this award). in his retirement he enjoyed playing tennis and even competed successfully in a few local race walking events

John was an avid reader of books on a wide range of subjects and enjoyed classic films with a passion.

John was considerate, authentic and kind. He was austere: generous towards others, he spent little on himself.

He loved children and they naturally took to him. He and Nora became a sort of adoptive grandparents to the children of distant cousin Tom Ganly, whom they visited several times in Ireland.

He had the strongest opinion of formal education His passion for making sure his kids and grandchildren got the best possible education, which he was happy to help sponsor.

He told few jokes and even fewer funny ones, but had a wonderful sense of humor.

John is survived by his wife Nora, his son Thomas and daughter-in-law Nadine Campbell, of Puerto Varas, Chile, son John and daughter-in-law Michelle Shine of Lewisville, TX, son Stephen and daughter-in-law Cherry Vegela, of Farmington Hills, MI, his grandchildren Amy (husband Brian), Stephanie (husband Christopher), Alexander, Alan, David and Susan and his great-grandchildren Madelyn, Calvin, Lily and Harley.

He leaves behind his caregivers Donald and Jennifer who were also his friends in his final months on this earth. He was in good company.

He will be missed.