Charles (Chris) Soufas Jr., 72, passed peacefully on December 28, 2020. Chris was born in Wilson, North Carolina, to Charles and Clara Soufas. He attended and graduated from Emory University with his Bachelors in Spanish Language and Literature. It is at Emory where he met the love of his life, Teresa. He then attended and graduated from Duke University with his PhD. He then entered academia as a Professor of Spanish language and literature. He held his first position at West Chester University in Pennsylvania. Chris and Teresa then moved to Louisiana where he became a Professor at LSU. Soon thereafter, Chris was recruited to the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Tulane University in New Orleans where his wife, Teresa, also held a faculty position. He completed his educational career in 2016 at Temple University in Philadelphia due to being displaced after Hurricane Katrina. Once retired, Chris spent his retirement back in New Orleans. Chris was awarded several academic honors. Among them a Guggenheim Fellowship and one from the National Endowment for Humanities. Chris enjoyed traveling and collecting paintings from around the world. In his free time, Chris managed to become a published author of multiple books and writings. During his career, he wrote: five books, edited four volumes, published fifty-two articles in academic journals, and presented numerous conference papers. He also organized sessions at Scholarly conferences and wrote many book reviews. He very much enjoyed the companionship and love of his multiple dogs throughout the years. Chris was a loving and devoted son, brother, husband, father, grandfather, and friend. Chris is survived by his wife, Teresa Soufas; brother and sister and spouse, Leigh Soufas and Marianne Soufas and Cem McConnell; son and spouse, Paul and Ashleigh Soufas; and granddaughters, Cassandra and Payton Soufas, as well as multiple in-laws and cousins. He was preceded in death by his father, Charles Soufas Sr. and mother, Clara Soufas. Services will be held at Leitz-Eagan, 4747 Veterans Memorial Boulevard, Metairie, LA 70006. Viewing will be from 11:00-1:00, with a service to follow. There will then be a motorcycle-led procession to Garden of Memories Funeral Home & Cemetery, 4900 Airline Dr., Metairie, LA 70001 where Chris will be laid to rest. An online guestbook is available at www.leitzeaganfuneralhome.com
