Peter Tsourounakis

Panayiotis Tsourounakis, lovingly known to his friends and coworkers as Peter, was born in the town of Makris Tihos in the city of Chania on the island of Crete, Greece on March 17, 1941, the third youngest of ten children born to Panayiotis and Evangelia Tsourounakis.

A proud veteran of the Greek Navy in his early years, he permanently moved to the United States at the age of twenty-five to pursue the American Dream. Arriving in New York City, he worked tirelessly across several different trades to make a name for himself, and in 1969 he married his wife Evangelia Mamangakis, with whom he raised two children in Ocean County, New Jersey.

Panayiotis was a proud American and an Orthodox Christian, loving husband, father and grandfather who was known by everyone who crossed paths with him as a selfless, hardworking and deeply intelligent and caring man, who earned every dollar he made and gave his children and grandchildren the best life could offer. He passed away on March 25, 2026, on Greek Independence Day and the Orthodox feast of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary, a day sacred to Greeks and Eastern Orthodox Christians alike.

He is preceded in death by his parents Panagiotis and Evangelia Tsourounakis, his siblings and their spouses Antonios (Despina), Athanasios (Argio), Evanthia (Nikolaos), Anastasia (Christos), Ioannis, Giorgios and Eleftherios

and survived by his wife of 56 years Evangelia Tsourounakis, his son Anthony (Eleni) Tsourounakis, daughter Nektaria (Fr. Anastasios) Kousoulas and their five sons Constantine, Panayiotis, Evangelos, Demetrios, and Andreas, sisters Amalia (the late Nikolaos) Daskalakis and Mando (Christos) Kalaitzides, sisters-in-law Photini and Kostoula Tsourounakis and numerous nieces and nephews in the United States and Greece.

A memorial visitation will be on Monday, March 30th, from 10 AM to 11 AM followed by the funeral at St. Barbara Greek Orthodox Church, 2200 Church Rd, Toms River, NJ 08753.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in his memory to St. Barbara Greek Orthodox Church.