From Coeur d'Alene Press
John Christ Roussos, 81, of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, died Oct. 10, 2014 from complications of diabetes.
He was born to Christ and Johanna Roussos Dec. 20, 1932, as one of 16 children, eight of whom survived childhood.
John played fullback on one of New Castle High's championship football teams and later was inducted into the Lawrence County (Pa.) Historical Society Sports Hall of Fame.
John enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and served as the radio operator for the 105th Howitzer Division in Korea, fighting alongside them in freezing weather at the Chosin Reservoir. In was in the Marines where he met his wife of 55 years, Beverly. She died in 2009.
John played football for four years on scholarship at the University of Idaho, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in teaching. He and his wife taught and coached at Coeur d'Alene High School. In 1965, they signed up for Department of Defense teaching positions at U.S. military bases abroad, and for the next 27 years they served their country in Newfoundland, Canada; Spain; Germany; and Okinawa, Japan.
John is survived by his daughter, Greta Anna Cosby and her husband Dr. Glen Cosby of Spokane, Wash., who cared for John at their home for most of the final year of his life and up to the time of his death; granddaughter Lauren McMurray of Moscow, Idaho, her husband Phil and their five children Bryce, Deacon John, Kyle, Sean, and Caroline; granddaughter Adrien Pocklington and her spouse, Bart Setter of Rocklin, Calif., and their four children Daniel, Roman, Avery, and Maya; sister Anna Taylor of Brunswick, Ga., as well as numerous nieces and nephews.
Burial was in Coeur d'Alene Memorial Gardens.
John Roussos
1932-2014
