Gust Gus Nicholas Paris

It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to Gust Paris. In 1919, Gust was born in Chicago, IL, the son of Nicolas Psaropoulos and Katina (Kaloyeiopoulos). Gust’s parents returned to their hometown of Koróni, Greece, where Gust and his younger siblings (Irini, Pavlos, Dimitrios, Leonidas, Vaggelis, Georgio, and Ageliki) were raised.

In 1938, the 19-year-old Gust returned to America and began working at his Uncle Jimmy’s tavern, the Green Lantern, in McFarland, WI. On January 6th, 1942, Gust enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps, and was assigned to the Eighth Air Force, 355th Fighter Group. He was deployed to Steeple Morden, England and lived in the barracks in Litlington, Cambridgeshire, England. Gust would bike 14 miles to go to a dance hall in Hitchin, where he met the love of his life, a young woman serving in the Royal Air Force. Joan and Gust were married in England in June 1945.

At the end of the war, Gust was shipped back to America and in October 1945, he was discharged from the Army. Anxiously waiting for the time when Joan could join him in America, Gust resumed working for Uncle Jimmy at the Green Lantern. A few months later, Joan was by his side. They bought a home in McFarland, and soon sold it to buy a bigger house in Stoughton. Gust went to night school and became a linotype operator. They raised their children, Irene, Nick and Bobby, in Stoughton and became active in town life. Gust was a member in the local VFW, American Legion and a Master Mason. He loved to spend his free time fishing and hosting family and friends at fish fries in his back yard. On Friday and Saturday nights, more often than not, they could be found playing cards with family and friends. In 1988 they packed up their home in Stoughton and moved to Oceanside, CA at the Ocean Breeze Senior Village. Gust and Joan enjoyed the social life of the complex until 2016 when Gust’s failing health led to his placement at Rose Gardens, an assisted living home.

Gust will be sorely missed by those he has left behind, especially by his wife of 72 years, Kathleen Joan Paris. He was a devoted father of Irene (David, deceased) Stradtman, Nicholas (Catherine) Paris, and Robert (Cheryl) Paris. Gust was a cherished grandfather of six: Noel Stradtman (Keegan White), Tisha (Willie) Bloom, Jonathan (Jane) Paris, Nichol (Fernando) Viton, Kristine (Stephen) Birmingham, and Susan (Richard) Martin. Gust was also loved by his 17 great-grandchildren: Erin, Rebecca, Jacob, Alexandra, Gabriel, Isabelle, Joseph, Enrique, Benjamin, Paige, Nathanael, Katherine, Natalie, Andrew, Sophia, Olivia, and Matthew aka Gus.