James Stanley Angeles' Obituary
LTC James S. Angeles, USA (Ret.) 1921 – 2015LTC James S. Angeles was born in Livingston, IL and as a young boy moved to San Diego where he lived the majority of his life. James was the consummate family man and soldier spending his life serving both his family and his country. At an early age he started working to help support his family after his father died. James joined the National Guard when he was 18 years old and was called to active duty in 1940. He was stationed in Hawaii and witnessed the Japanese planes flying overhead on their way to attack Pearl Harbor. He served in World War II in both the Pacific and Europe and was honorably discharged after the war. When he came home he married his one and only, Stella Capatanos, and worked as a salesman at University Avenue Furniture. Once he married and started his own family, he continued to care for his family making sure they never did without. His desire to serve his country led him to reenlist in the Army where he served in both the Vietnam and Korean wars before retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel. During this time the family grew to six with the addition of son Theodore, and daughters Connie, Stephanie and Irene, and the family traveled around the country and to Panama. James retired from the military and the family returned home to San Diego in 1968. James began his second career at the U.S. Post Office where he worked before officially retiring. James spent his retirement years enjoying his family, tending to his yard, and enjoying a good martini and cigar. He took great pride in his children and loved being Papou to James, Victoria, John, Carly and Marina. It’s safe to say that his greatest joy was having his “tribe”, as he called his family, gathered around him. He greatly enjoyed the many, large family get-togethers he and Stella hosted in their home and took a great interest in his many nieces and nephews. He was happiest manning his bar during a party and was quick to offer a martini to anyone interested. His wisdom and sound counsel on everything from politics to finances, as well as his love of a corny joke (usually about toilet paper), will be greatly missed by his wife, children Ted, Connie Thomas (Dan), Stephanie Navrides (Bill), and Irene Lane (Barry), grandchildren and the rest of his large family. A Trisagion will be held on Friday evening, June 5th at 7pm at Greenwood Mortuary; the funeral service will be held at St. Gregory of Nyssa Greek Orthodox Church, 1454 Jamacha Road, El Cajon, at 10am on Saturday, June 6th. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to St. Spyridon or St. Gregory of Nyssa Greek Orthodox churches.
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