John Constantine Tsitouras

In his 100th year, John Constantine Tsitouras passed away on February 2, 2025, at age 99 after a short illness. John was born on March 29, 1925, in the railroad town of Creston, Iowa to Constantinos E. Tsitouras and Katherine Ellen Johnson Tsitouras. A product of the Great Depression, John moved to LaMars, Iowa, and Sioux City, South Dakota, before settling in at age eight on his mother's farm in Johnson Township in northwest Iowa. John attended the one-room Ruble School and taught himself about electricity and radios by conducting experiments on the farm. He worked on his family's farms and at the local car dealership, repaired balers, grew his own potato crop, made and sold electric fences, and worked as a carpenter constructing the Colorado center where soldiers trained for WWII alpine combat. John enlisted in the U.S. Navy Air Corps., and after graduating from Akron High School in 1943, set the Farragut Naval Training Station record for the most push-ups and sit-ups. As part of the greatest generation, John served during World War II from 1943-1946; he completed and taught the Navy's three radar classes, receiving high praise from WWI's Captain Eddy. After the war, John worked as a Philco Tech Rep at Pearl Harbor. John was a surfer, diver and water skier. In Honolulu, John met Dorothy ("Dotty") O'Mahony; they married on the island of Kauai in 1948. John continued his work with the Navy through Philco in San Diego and earned his degree in electrical engineering from the University of Arizona in Tucson. John worked for Hughes Corp. and then on Convair's Atlas Missile program in California before EG&G lured John to Las Vegas in 1959. John held a Q clearance, served as a scientist at the Nevada Test Site and Area 51 and worked on numerous classified projects. John also owned Sahara Import Motors on East Sahara. He was the number one fan of Benny Goodman and Louis Armstrong and loved both swing and classical music. John was preceded in death by his parents, infant brother Paul Joseph Tsitouras, wife Dotty, sons Chris and J.C., and beloved sisters Penelope Constantine Tsitouras Bryant and JoAnn Constantine Tsitouras Koontz. John is survived by his wife, Stacie; daughter, Buff Tsitouras of Alexandria, Virginia; brother-in-law Whealen Koontz (Laura) of Montgomery, Ohio; niece Sylvia Bryant Fredericks (Dave) of Fairfield, Iowa; and nephews John Bryant (Julia) and Curtis Bryant, all of Massachusetts; and Jim Koontz (Dayna) of Del Mar, California; and other nieces and nephews. Visitation is from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Friday, March 7, 2025, followed by a funeral service at 11 a.m. at Palm Eastern Mortuary, 7600 S. Eastern Avenue. Military honors and burial will immediately follow at the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City.