family by his side on the morning of March 22 2013 at Yale New Haven hospital. He was born on June 28, 1926 in New Haven, Connecticut to
the late John and Aspasia Basel.
Louis attended Hillhouse High School in New Haven and went on to obtain a Master of Science Degree in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1950. He served in the United States Navy as an Aviation Electronics Technician from 1944 to 1946. Louis married his lovely wife Penelope and they moved to Tennessee where his professional career began at Oak Ridge National Laboratory working on liquid metal heat transfer for nuclear reactors. He moved on to United Engineers & Constructors in Philadelphia where he worked on the design of chemical plants and then to Crawford & Russell in Stamford, Connecticut where he was President until he retired in 1984. Louis and Penelope are long time residents of Stamford CT. He volunteered his sharp engineering and analytical skills to the Stamford WPCA helping to save the tax payers many millions of dollars.
Louis was an avid stamp collector starting in the mid 1970’s. He soon joined the Hellenic Philatelic Society of America in New York city where he was advised to purchase a copy of the Etude of Tryphon Constantindes. This book, published in 1933 in Greek and French, had never been translated into English. Louis took on the task and published his translation in 1978. This started a 25 year period of research in the Large Hermes Head stamps of Greece with many publications in Hellenic philatelic journals in the United States, Greece, Great Britain, Germany and The Netherlands. Louis designed and wrote an advanced computer program for the plating of the 20 lepta Large Hermes Head stamps. His article describing this work appeared in The American Philatelist in 1985 and won the Apfelbaum Award for the best article published in that journal in 1985. He published three comprehensive books on the Large Hermes Heads of Greece. Louis continued his stamp collecting efforts, corresponding with friends around the world, and was very active right up to the weeks before his death.
Louis was predeceased by his sister Elizabeth Giamalis of Glastonbury Connecticut and his brother-in-law Nicholas Giatrelis of Hamden Connecticut. He is survived by his loving wife Penelope of 62 years, his sister Sophie Caloutas, his sons Peter, John and his wife Ki, and his grandchildren Louis, Paul, and Peter Jr. He is also survived by many loving cousins, friends and nieces and nephews.
The family will receive friends at the Church of the Archangels, 1527 Bedford Street, Stamford, CT on Monday March 25, 2013, from 5:00 to 8:00 PM with a Trisagion service at 7pm. The funeral service will be held on Tuesday March 26, 2013 at 11:00 AM, at The Church of The Archangels,1527 Bedford Street, Stamford CT. The burial will follow at Beaverdale Cemetary in Hamden CT. Memorial donations may be made to Veterans and Medical charities.
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