Panos Konstas

Pete was born on May 31, 1934, in Paleopanagia, a small village near Sparta in Greece, the son of Pericles and Christophile Konstantarogiannis. He left for the United States at the age of 18 after graduating from high school. In 1952, Greece was just emerging from a decade of strife and devastation caused by war with Italy in 1940, three and half years of occupation in 1941 by Hitler’s armies, and four years of civil war in1946.

His entrance to the U.S. was granted based on his father having obtained U.S. citizenship years earlier in Baltimore, Maryland. Upon arrival in the U.S., he went immediately to Kalamazoo, Michigan, to stay with his uncle and aunt. After a brief time as a busboy, he found employment at Eckrich, a large factory that made sausages and other meat products. He worked there, on the night shift, until December 1953, at which time he was drafted into the U. S. Army. Following basic and armored training in Fort Knox, Kentucky, he was sent overseas to Landshut in southern Germany, where he was assigned to the U. S. Sixth Armored Cavalry Regiment of the 7th Army as an assistant driver to an M-47 "Patton" tank. In May 1955, at the U.S. Consulate in Munich, he was sworn in as a U. S. citizen. He was honorably separated from active duty in December 1955, and returned to Kalamazoo to resume work at Eckrich.

His college education began in the spring of 1957, when, using the GI bill, he enrolled at Ferris Institute in Big Rapids, Michigan. After a year’s attendance there, he transferred to Michigan State University, where he met his wife Karen in class. They were married in 1961 in East Lansing. He graduated with a B.A. in Economics in 1960 and an M.A. in Economics in 1962. In September 1962, he enrolled at Oklahoma State University to work toward a Ph.D. degree in Economics under an assistantship grant. He graduated with that degree in July 1966.

He previously taught Economics at Wisconsin State University at Whitewater and was Visiting Professor of Economics at Oklahoma State University. He began work as an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. Pete, Karen, and family then moved to Arlington, Virginia, where he worked for the U. S. Treasury Department, Office of Debt Analysis. In 1971, he commenced work at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), where he spent 34 years and retired as a senior economist in the Division of Insurance and Research on December 31, 2005. His research and publications included topics on monetary policy, interest rates, money and capital markets, government-sponsored agencies, bank reporting requirements and analysis, U.S. government and municipal finance, and deposit insurance pricing and reform.

Pete was preceded in death by his parents, Pericles and Christophile Konstantarogiannis, his brother Constantine Konstas, and his brothers-in-law George Kapakos and Dick Lietzke. He is survived by his wife of 64 years, Karen Konstas (nee Lietzke); four daughters: Kristina Konstas, Anastasia Ralph (Michael), Amalia Konstas, and Penelope Konstas; a sister Panayota Kapakos; a brother George Konstas (Achlaia); sister-in-law Debra Lietzke; and five grandchildren: Marina (Charlotte), Louis, Juliana, John, and Phaedra; as well as many beloved nieces and nephews.

Pete will be dearly missed and was deeply cherished by his friends and loved ones. He leaves behind a legacy of family, friends, neighbors, a beautiful garden, and numerous fig trees in Northern Virginia and beyond.

A funeral service will be held at Saint Luke Serbian Orthodox Church, located at 6801 Georgetown Pike, McLean, Virginia, 22101, United States. The service is scheduled for October 28, 2025, from 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a contribution to the Amyloidosis Research Consortium in honor of Panos: https://donate.arci.org/campaign/701370/donate