Family always came first for Peters Twp. man
Yiannis Kamouyerou had an impulsive streak all his life.
Born on the Mediterranean island nation of Cyprus in 1952, Mr. Kamouyerou as a young man joined the crew of an ocean freighter hoping to see the world. After six months at sea, the freighter docked in Philadelphia, but the captain refused to let his crew go ashore. So Mr. Kamouyerou and two friends stole overboard one night, pooled their money and headed for New York City to see the skyscrapers.
Though he visited friends and relatives back in Cyprus regularly, John — as his friends here knew him — wound up staying in America. He spent 28 years in the Pittsburgh area, running a swimming pool construction business and spending most weekend mornings at his wife's South Side pastry shop drinking coffee and smoking with his Greek friends.
Yiannis Kamouyerou, of Peters Township died Monday, July 22, 2002, in an automobile accident in Oklahoma as he and his wife were driving to Las Vegas for a vacation. He was 50.
Mr. Kamouyerou was so driven to work with his hands that at times he couldn't restrain himself, said his first wife, Beth McClelland of Upper St. Clair.
"He got bored easily. He got a chain saw once, and when I came home from work he had chain-sawed off our front porch. He just got bored with it," McClelland said.
"I asked him one time to get a snake for the kitchen to clean the drain," she said. "I came home and the whole kitchen was lying in our front yard. I asked him if he got the snake and he said no, he decided to build me a new kitchen instead. And he did."
Mr. Kamouyerou also enjoyed cooking, and his love affair with the kitchen led to two love affairs.
He met his first wife in a New Jersey diner, where he was a short order cook and she was a waitress. Years later Mr. Kamouyerou met his second wife, Kathleen Takes, when she came to work for him at a steak hoagie stand he used to bring to the Pittsburgh Regatta.
Family was always first for Mr. Kamouyerou, both women said.
He named his pool contracting business, Andrews Construction, after his father, Andreas. He doted on his five children, two from his first marriage and three from the second. After he had a serious fall at work just two weeks ago, Kathleen Kamouyerou said her husband told their 14-year-old son Michael that his life flashed before his eyes.
"I want you to know that if anything happens to me, don't cry, because I'm always going to be with you in your heart," she said he told their son.
Mr. Kamouyerou would have become a grandfather next month. His oldest daughter, Marina, now will name her son Yiannis in memory of her father, McClelland said.
The funeral will be held 11 a.m. today at All Saints Greek Orthodox Church in Canonsburg. The church will be open an hour before the service for visitation.
Mr. Kamouyerou is survived by his wife, sons Michael and Andreas, and daughters Marina, Andrea and Sophia. His mother, father and six surviving brothers and sisters still live in Cyprus. Several relatives have come to Pittsburgh for the funeral.
