John Michael Skarpelos

Resident of Fremont California

September 9, 1928 – August 17, 2016

John Michael Skarpelos passed away on Wednesday from cardiac arrest. He was a beloved father, uncle, brother and friend who was noted for his tireless and understated efforts to help others.

The son of Greek immigrants, John was born and raised in San Pedro, California, the port of Los Angeles, where he graduated from San Pedro High School in 1946 and went on to earn a Bachelors of Science in Chemistry from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1951. He was the first person in his family to earn a university degree.

After graduation, he began a long career in the nuclear industry. He first worked in Richland, Washington at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation then moved to the Bay Area where he worked with General Electric (GE) Nuclear Energy. He rose to the level of Consulting Engineer at GE and was widely recognized in the field of water chemistry for nuclear power plants.

He met his future wife, Marian Marino, when he visited Seattle while working in Richland. They married in 1959, and raised three sons, Michael, George and Peter, in Fremont, California.

He retired from General Electric in 1994 after 43 years with the Nuclear Energy division. In retirement, he and Marian traveled extensively until her death in 2004.

John became involved with Sons in Retirement (SIR), a fraternal group of retired men in 1994 and worked on many projects for the organization. He was an avid photographer, and his photographs were printed in several publications including the Los Angeles Times. He loved tinkering and provided computer technical support for many friends and neighbors.

John is survived by his three sons, Michael of San Jose, George of Los Angeles and Peter of Berkeley and his grandchildren Sophia and Walter of San Jose and Athena of Los Angeles, his daughters-in-law Linda Skarpelos, Alexa Iles-Skarpelos and Linda Schmidt, his sister Georgia Leakos of Calgary, Canada and his sister in-law Zoye Marino Fidler of Los Angeles. He was a generous and loving man whose kindness will be missed by all who knew him.

Friends and family are invited to a Trisagion (memorial) service on Monday, August 29, 2016 from 7-9 p.m. at the Lima Family Fremont-Milpitas Mortuary and a funeral service on Tuesday, August 30, 2016 at 10:00 am at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church. Burial will follow at Cedar Lawn Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers the family asks that donations be made to St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church of San Jose.

Lima Family Fremont-Milpitas Mortuary

48800 Warm Springs Blvd.

Fremont, CA

St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church

1260 Davis St.

San Jose, CA 95126

Cedar Lawn Memorial Park

48800 Warm Springs Blvd.

Fremont, CA