James A. Koures

Chia. That was his nickname from his hometown of Dara in the Peloponnese region of Greece. His son remembers a trip to Dara and how he met three old widows who didn’t recognize his full name, Demetrious Antonio Koures. But when he told them Chia, they laughed and clapped and said, “Bravo. Bravo. Chia was good, and the toughest man” in the area. And that is the way James Koures, as officials changed his name when he immigrated to America, lived. He was big and strong, indomitable, proud and stubborn and his family and friends are richer for having known and loved him.

Demetrious Antonio Koures was born in Thessaloniki, Greece, in 1927. He was one of six siblings. All but two, George Koures of Missoula and Aleko Koures in Italy, preceded him in death.

He loved a good story, Greek music and food, especially sweets. He was happiest when surrounded with friends and family, the nucleus of a family in the truest sense of the word. He didn’t have an easy life before immigrating but he was determined to live well and in exactly the manner he wanted.

When he was just 13-years-old, the Greek guerrillas recruited him to fight against the Germans during World War II. He told stories about the war, how the Germans occupied their village, built a stable in his house and how he had to fight and steal to survive and protect his brother Laki. But no matter the story, it always ended with him saying there were both bad and good people, and that someone had watched over him.

From World War II, to the Greek Civil War, he wasn’t to know much peace in Greece. When it was done, he put $18 in his pocket, said goodbye and, without knowing a word of English, got on a boat to New York. He slept on a pool table his first night in the U.S. He saw his first elevator that left him transfixed at the magic that made someone disappear when the doors closed. He traveled to Chicago, Spokane and Portland, Oregon. But he found his home in Missoula, Montana where he worked in his uncle’s hamburger and candy store.

Once settled, he met and married Helen Darlene Williamson from Victor. On Aug. 6, 2016, they celebrated 60 years of marriage. They had two children, Tony and Sofeea, and started building the rental property business. At night, he managed maintenance at the University of Montana. Jim loved to wear sunglasses and sharp clothes, particularly pinstripes. That earned him the nickname “The Godfather.” He’d take his family to Mario’s Restaurant on West Broadway in Missoula and dance all night. His brother, George and his family, joined Jim in Missoula. They hunted and fished and lived as traditional Greek Americans, at home in the mountains of Montana much as they had been together in Greece. His sister-in-law, Eva Koures, remembers him showing up at her house several times at 3 a.m. to go swimming in what used to be the wading pool near Sacajawea Park. For him, everything was about family and Greece, from hunting, to church, to AHEPA, to the cabin Helen and he built.

Jim is survived by his wife, Helen; two children; five grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Among those; his son, Antonio Demetrious Koures, his wife Cyndy, and their children Demetrious Antonio and Eleni Cynthia; his daughter, Sofeea Koures Huffman, her husband Kyle and their children Demetrios, Amalia and Alexandra as well as Demetrios’s son, Jim’s great-grandchild, Demetri. In the tradition of “All Things Greek”, his family honored him by passing on his name to each generation. He is also survived by his brother George Koures and his wife Eva, as well as their sons Bill and Antoni and their families, as well as his brother Aleko Koures and his family in Italy, and his many cousins, nieces and nephews here and in Greece.

The Greeks carry their traditions and love for family and their country in their hearts, their lineage in their names. Jim Koures leaves a void in his family, but also leaves them proud of his life and determined his memory will be eternal.

Se aga pou, Pop.

He will be honored in a Greek Orthodox Trisagion for the Departed at Garden City Funeral Home at 5 p.m. Monday, Aug. 15. His funeral follows Tuesday, Aug. 16, at Holy Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church at 11 a.m., with a reception to follow at Garden City Funeral Home. Interment will follow in Dara, Greece.

Se aga pou.