Demetrios Bassis "Jim" Haseotes

HASEOTES , DEMETRIOS BASSIS "JIM"
of Cumberland, RI and Centerville, MA, passed away peacefully on January 31, 2017 at the age of 88. He was the son of the late Vasilios Spiros Haseotes and Aphrodite Bassis Haseotes and was raised in Cumberland, RI. Jim was the devoted and caring husband of Yeota Betty Englis Haseotes and the brother of George Haseotes, Hytho Pantazelos, Anastasia Marty, Lily Bentas, and JoAnn Tambakis. He was predeceased by his brother Byron and sister Erato. Jim was the father of Zacharie Vinios and her husband Louis, Vasilios Haseotes, George Peter Haseotes and his wife Polyxeni, Athena Haseotes, and Demetrios Haseotes and his wife Kelly. He was the loving grandfather of Christina Vinios and her husband Fernando Maciel Talavera, Nicholas Vinios, Bettina Vinios Georgoulis and her husband Nicholas, Jean-Catherine Vinios, Ryan Haseotes, Alexandra, Demetrios, Gabrielle, Anastasia, Panayioti, Matina, and Alexios Haseotes, Angelica Iannone, Isabella Branham, and Kathryn Yeota Haseotes. He is also survived by three great-grandchildren- Alexander Louis and Marina Vinios Georgoulis and Dionisio Maciel Talavera. "Uncle Jim" is survived by many nieces and nephews is also survived by his friend and brother in law Louis J. Metaxas. A graduate of Cumberland High School, Jim received an Honorary degree from Bryant University and for a brief time, he served in the U.S. Army. He was a member of Leadership 100 and a supporter of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church.
He was the eldest of 8 children and he early on assumed a driving role and responsibility of building a real estate and retail legacy for his entire family. Jim also accomplished a significant number of other milestones. He designed, built and operated the largest experimental dairy farm under one roof in the country at its time while also working feverishly to enhance and preserve farmers' rights in New England. He purchased the second largest cranberry growing company in the world in the mid 1970's and subsequently enhanced and sold this business in the mid 1980's to help with the acquisition of the Gulf Oil assets in the Northeast. This acquisition propelled the already highly successful real estate and retail empire into a whole new level of recognition. Never one to stay in a narrow line of vision, Jim then undertook another venture and purchased a fleet of several ocean-going crude oil tankers, one of which hauled a world record sized grain cargo from the West Coast of the United States to the country of Bangladesh. Now the farmer who started an agricultural and real estate empire was on the move to acquire even more leverage and strength for his family. Next in his sights was a mothballed oil refinery in Newfoundland Canada. He believed that this acquisition would help to secure clean product supply for the family's now burgeoning retail and wholesale holdings while also gaining it great access to cheap crude oil supply worldwide. This was perhaps his greatest challenge and probably presented him with the greatest number of obstacles as this venture was far more suitable for a major oil company than a small supplier/distributor based in New England. Staying always true to his expertise and passion for real estate, Jim, (then retired) guided the empire once more toward the Exxon retail holdings in the Northeast and Long Island, once again adding over 200 prime properties to the already strong core company. He always believed that the company's major foothold in prime real estate holdings would be the ultimate basis for growth. Even into his late years he would still pursue this belief by constructing retail properties on his own almost as a hobby to illustrate that there were opportunities to be reaped in creating value and cutting costs. He mentored many people in his time….
Relatives and friends are invited to visiting hours from 10:00am to 11am on Friday February 3, 2017 at the Assumption of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church at 97 Walcott St Pawtucket, RI followed by a service at 11am in the church. Burial will follow in North Purchase Cemetery, Attleboro.
In lieu of flowers, donations should be made to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church of Pawtucket RI. 02860. Arrangements by the O'Neill Funeral Home, Cumberland. www.oneillfuneralhomes.com