James Strangas Obituary

James Strangas was born in a village outside of the City of Megalopoli, Greece, also not far from perhaps the better-known City of Kalamata. He was born May 20, 1926, to Alqiyathee (Archie) and Dina (Ozybukos) Strangas, and had five younger siblings: Georgette, Arthur, Catherine, William, and Peter.
Together, they worked on the family's farm, and from a young age, James stood out as being the hardest working of the children. This was much appreciated by his parents.
The family survived the "Occupation" during World War II, and soon after the War was over, the young man, James, left the farm and became a merchant marine on Greek ships and sailed into many ports around the world.
While on one of those voyages, James became very sick. His appendix had burst, which in the 1940s and early 1950s was something that would be most likely to lead to death. It was with that expectation that led his ship's captain, other officers, and chaplain, to visit James's bedside, while he lay in a German hospital. There, the chaplain would read him his last rights, and the captain would ask whether James wanted to be buried at sea, or have his body sent back to Greece. James said, "Send me back to my mother, but I'm not going to die".
Thankfully, he was right. Due to the advent of penicillin, and the diligence of the German doctors and nurses who tended to him; and equally important due to James's toughness and will to live, he survived and lived a long and fulfilling life, to the ripe old age of 98, or "ninety-eight and a half" as he said many times recently before his passing.
After his recovery, James went back to work on the ships. Eventually that work took him to the United States when they sailed into New York Harbor. It was in New York where he went through the naturalization process to become a U.S. citizen, and where he started his American Dream. He left the merchant marines and got a job right away. It was busing tables at a restaurant in the city, for meager pay, but, nonetheless, it was work, and he got paid.
From New York City, with a friend's help, he made his way to the Troy/Schenectady area to bus tables at hotels in the resort areas of the Catskill Mountains. Then, with another connection, he came to Dover, N.H. to work in a restaurant. It was Dover where James would put down roots and reside for the next 74 years.
In Dover, James would meet the love of his life, the girl of his dreams, "the girl in the yellow dress", at a church dance. Her name was Mary Grekas. On May 10th, 1953, they would wed, forming a wonderful union, a loving marriage that would last for sixty-five "and a half years" (as James would say), until Mary's passing on December 3rd, 2018. In that time, they raised their 2 boys, Billy and Peter.
It was Dover where James would build that American Dream. First working at a restaurant, then in the "shoe shops", he and Mary were able to save enough to purchase the home they would reside in for almost 70 years. From that point they were able to set more money aside and with the goal of proprietorship, purchase the first of several businesses, a laundromat, in Rochester, which they named Mary's Laundromat, and owned for 30 years.
With continued drive and need to be his own boss his own man, James would push the two to purchase another laundromat, the PolyClean in Dover; a pizza restaurant, The Kittery House of Pizza (Badger's Island); Mary's Clothes N Things; and other real estate holdings in the area. Putting in an incredible amount of work into these ventures, and with intelligent management and just flat-out good business sense, all were run successfully.
Where James didn't have the advantage of being American born, even more, he had to rely on his intelligence; determination; courage; perseverance; and the incredible work ethic he learned from his parents on the family farm in Greece, to successfully achieve his version of the American Dream, and as part of that dream, to give his family a great life.
James had been sick recently, and it is with great sadness that we announce his February 16th, 2025, passing. He passed away at home with his family close by.
James's American Dream has concluded. His race was run. His goal of self-determination was met, and to reach it, he did things his way, with great results. He was his own man for sure, and anyone who knew him would say the same. He truly made his mark in his family's world and beyond.
Now, James has started his new life, the eternal life, with God, Jesus Christ, and his beloved, Mary. We take solace in this fact.
May James Stangas' memory be eternal.
James is survived by his sons, William Strangas, and Peter Strangas. He is also survived by a beloved sister-in-law, Matina Georgakis, and special niece, Angela Georgakis, and several other nieces and nephews.
James was predeceased by his parents and all his siblings.
The funeral was private and there were no calling hours.
We would like to thank Wentworth Douglass Hospital as a whole for their professionalism and most excellent care. Specifically, we want to acknowledge the health care professionals of 3 West, 3 North, and the WDH Cancer Center ITC.
It is with great appreciation that we recognize the Wentworth Home Care Hospice team.
We thank you all for your incredible professionalism, and for always making James feel loved and cared for, and for the special attention that he always seemed to get.
Any memorial donations in James's memory may be made to Amy's Treat, Wentworth Douglass Hospital Cancer Center, 789 Central Ave. Dover, N.H.; Shriners Children's
Attn: Shriners Children's Processing Center, PO Box 947765 Atlanta, GA 30394; or to the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church, 93 Locust St. Dover N.H.