James "Demetrios" K. Adraktas, 85, of Yorba Linda, California passed away July 2, 2019 in Yorba Linda.

James was born November 30, 1933 to Konstandinos and Stavroula (Iliopoulos) Adraktas in Ampelofyto, Messinia in south western Greece. He was the youngest of seven children. As a young boy his family survived the occupation of Greece by the Italians and Germans and then the Greek civil war. He grew up helping his family farm. He also was in charge of his family's bee hives when he grew older and as a teen, he was the village butcher. He graduated high school in Pylos and spent two years in the Greek military as a tank sergeant.

During the next few years he tried hard to make a living in Athens with an olive oil business among other things, before getting a loan from his family and buying a taxi. He worked long hours in his taxi in Athens.

He managed to get a visa to come to America when he was 27 years old to go and visit his sister in Wisconsin. He traveled by ship aboard the Frederika in May of 1961. His sister and brother in law owned a diner in Eagle River, Wisconsin. There he met Joanie Kargol who was a waitress and they married six weeks later. Soon after he bought the diner from his sister and he became a very successful small business owner working seven days a week the first ten years he was in the United States.

James loved life and his family. He loved people and tried to get to know his customers and made them feel special. He helped many people over the years. James also became very interested in the stock market and started investing early in his career. He loved talking about the companies he invested in and Wall Street was high on his list of sights to see when he visited New York City.

James and Joanie had four children, Connie, Stephanie, Dean and Victoria.

In 1971 he took his family to Greece for the whole summer to reconnect with his Greek family and so his children could get to know their grandmother, aunts, uncles and cousins.

In 1975 he decided he had had enough of the harsh Wisconsin winters and moved his family to Mesa, Arizona. He and his family attended Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Phoenix before helping to start Saint Katherine Greek Orthodox Church in Chandler, Arizona. James loved to help with the Greek Festival in Chandler and was in charge of the food for a couple of years. He owned a restaurant in Apache Junction from 1976-1978 and then went to work as a cook-manager for a restaurant in downtown Mesa. In 1985 he bought the Community Family Restaurant in Mesa and that he ran until he retired in 1996 and moved to Williams, Oregon.

In 2003 he moved back to Mesa where he lived independently until he moved to Yorba Linda California in February of 2017 to be near his daughter Connie and her family. He lived at Sunrise of Yorba Linda Assisted Living where he made a core group of friends and was much loved by the staff. He became a member of Saint John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church in Anaheim and enjoyed attending church and participating in the Golden Stars luncheons.

James is preceded in death by his son Dean. He is survived by his daughters Connie (Ruben), Stephanie and Victoria and his grandchildren Jaron, Jaclyn and Gabriel Zepeda and Alexander Krull. Family and friends are invited to attend a Trisagion at 7pm on Tuesday, July 9, 2019 and funeral service at 11am on Wednesday July 10, 2019 at Saint John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church, 405 N. Dale Avenue, Anaheim CA. Burial to follow at Westminster Memorial Park in Westminster, CA.

Arrangements under the direction of Chapman Funeral Homes - Terry & Mary Harmon, Funeral Directors. Toll free (855) 628-0447.

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Obituary notice for Chapman Funeral Homes. Please visit www.chapmanfuneraldirectors.com .

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