Voulis Peter Pappas

Voulis was born the youngest of two children to Elias and Maria Paraskevopoulos in Moschato, Greece on February 15, 1942. He was a man of the “Jack of all trades“ moniker. He worked in restaurants, merchant marine, soccer player, General Motors, real estate broker, liquor store and restaurant owner, and THE handyman for his family and friends. However, what he held so dear to his heart and deemed his most important and passionate job was Papou to Paris, Katherine, Tom and Ali.

As a teenager Voulis’ mother, Maria, moved he and his brother, Taki, from Greece to California for a better life. They would travel back to their homeland for special occasions and it was during one of these trips where he met his wife, Madeline, at a baptism. A year later, they were married on September 24, 1972 surrounded by family and friends in Greece. 9 months later, Voulis and Madeline had their first child, Elias. They were overjoyed with having a son. 3 years later, they welcomed their second child, Mary. Voulis worked very hard to ensure the family was well taken care of and felt loved every day.

Voulis wore many titles: husband, dad, papou, brother, son, friend and perhaps his most loved titles were soccer player and referee. He started his career playing soccer with neighborhood kids in the street. This passion grew which landed him playing for the Greek National Team, Olympiakos. He met some of his closest friends on this team and, ironically or fate, those friends would lead to his own sons’ future wife, Denise. He turned this passion of playing soccer to refereeing where he worked hard in becoming a National referee. He had the privilege of refereeing some important games and players including Diego Maradona. His retelling of these soccer stories and his love for the sport ultimately laid the groundwork in his son, Elias, and granchildren Paris and Katherine playing the game as well. So much so that at the time of Voulis’ death, his first grandchild, Paris, following in his Papou’s footsteps, committed to playing soccer in college and his sister, Katherine is right behind making their Papou very proud!

Voulis loved his wife, children and grandchildren deeply and sacrificed himself to ensure everyone was able to follow their passions in life. He worked hard so that his wife could stay home and take care of the family. He instilled in his children a strong work ethic which enabled them spreading their wings and flying into their own successes. He was very proud of his children as they grew into adults and began caring for their own families. His children believe his proudest accomplishment were seeing them marrying wonderful, supportive spouses, Elias’ wife, Denise and Mary’s husband, Brian, and creating family units similar to what he wanted for his own family.

Voulis is survived by his wife, Madeline Pappas, his children Elias Pappas (Denise Pappas), Mary Gildea (Brian Gildea), and his grandchildren Paris Pappas, Katherine Pappas, Thomas Gildea and Alison Gildea.

A Visitation for Voulis will be held Wednesday, March 8, 2023 from 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm at Bastian and Perrott, Oswald Mortuary, 18728 Parthenia Street, Northridge, CA 91324. A Trisagion will be at 7:00 pm. The funeral service will be on Thursday, March 9, 2023 at 10:00 am at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, 9501 Balboa Blvd, Northridge, CA 91325. The Burial will be at Pierce Brothers Valhalla, 10621 Victory Blvd, North Hollywood, CA 91606.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.bastianandperrott-oswaldmortuary.com for the Pappas family.

In lieu of flowers, the family has asked for donations to be made to St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church. A link is provided below for your convenience.

https://stnicholas.fellowshiponego.com/external/form/80589650-ddde-4cf1-90b4-77d6d6265ce9