Individual Details

Birth

birth year estimated from obituary

Burial

Brothers and Sisters,   
 
It is with great sadness that we inform you that Mrs. Irene Pouletsos, has fallen asleep in the Lord.  The viewing for Mrs. Pouletsos will be held Thursday, July 14th, 2016, at the Becker Funeral Home located at 219 Kinderkamack Rd. from 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM. The funeral will take place here at the Cathedral on Friday, July 15th, with internment at George Washington Memorial Park in Paramus, NJ.
 May the Lord our God repose her soul in peace and may her memory be eternal. 
In Christ,  Fr. Peter, St. John the Theologian Greek Orthodox Church, Tenafly, NJ

Obituary

POULETSOS 
Irene (nee Kyprios), 95, of Westwood, NJ on Sunday, July 10, 2016. Mrs. Pouletsos was the widow of James Pouletsos, her beloved husband of 63 years. 
She is survived by her daughters, Corinne Krachtus of Westwood and Elaine Miller of Fredericksburg, Virginia; her five grandchildren, Dayna Krachtus, John James Krachtus, Kassia Miller, Diana Miller and Alexander Miller; her great granddaughter Hadley; and sons-in-law John Krachtus and Martin Miller. She is also survived by her sister Mary Sava, her brother Peter Kyprios and many loving nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her daughter Daphne Pouletsos, her sister Jean Thanasides, and her parents Nicholas and Evangeline Kyprios.
Born in Hoboken, Mrs. Pouletsos was a resident of Westwood for seventy years. Before her marriage, she worked in the Accounting Department of Lipton Tea Company. In Westwood, she was the co-owner of Conrad's Confectionery where she worked alongside her husband for over 40 years. Mrs. Pouletsos will be remembered by her family and friends as the loving matriarch of her large extended family and a gracious hostess whose home was always open to friends. 
After they retired, Mr. and Mrs. Pouletsos enjoyed traveling throughout the U.S. and Europe.
She was a founding member of the Elena Society, a longtime member of St. John the Theologian Greek Orthodox Cathedral of Tenafly, and a member of Camp K-20 in Bear Mountain, New York.
A funeral service will be held at St. John the Theologian Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Tenafly on Friday, July 15 at 12:30 PM. Burial will follow at George Washington Memorial Park, Paramus, New Jersey. The family will receive friends on Thursday, July 14 from 2-4 and 7-9 PM at Becker Funeral Home, 219 Kinderkamack Road, Westwood, NJ. 
Published in The Record on July 12, 2016 [Bergen County NJ Record]

Obituary: northjersey.com; July 12, 2016: http://www.northjersey.com/news/irene-pouletsos-motherly-presence-at-conrad-s-in-westwood-dies-at-95-1.1629071

Irene Pouletsos, who for decades was a sandwich-making, soda-stirring motherly presence at Conrad’s, the venerable ice cream parlor and confectionery in Westwood, died Sunday at her borough home. She was 95.

Begun by Fred Conrad in 1928 in Oradell, the shop moved to 107 Westwood Avenue in Westwood in 1935, the year Jim Pouletsos took a job as a soda jerk. After his World War II service, Jim married the former Irene Kyprios, a Hoboken native he met at a church dance, and became a part-owner of Conrad’s. Eventually the couple became the sole owners.

“I think the saying that behind every great man is a better woman applies here,” said J.J. Krachtus, current owner of Conrad’s and the Pouletsoses’ grandson.

The Pouletsoses toiled together, with Irene making the soda fountain and the counter her domain. She also supervised the teenagers whom Conrad’s hired. “A lot of people remember being trained by Mom and toeing the line by her,” said her daughter, Corinne Krachtus. “With mom, everything had to be clean and done correctly. She kept everyone in line.”

After Jim and Irene passed the ownership to Corinne and her husband, John, in 1985, the elder couple were feted at a retirement party and reception at another Westwood institution, the Iron Horse Restaurant. But in retirement, there was no keeping Mrs. Pouletsos away from Conrad’s. She continued going in to help make tuna and egg salad sandwiches, fashion the bows that decorated chocolate Easter bunnies, and help out in other ways.

Mrs. Pouletsos’ husband died in 2009 and a daughter, Daphne Pouletsos, died at the World Trade Center on 9/11.

In addition to daughter Corinne, of Westwood, Mrs. Pouletsos is survived by another daughter, Elaine Miller of Fredericksburg, Va., two siblings, five grandchildren and a great-grandchild.
Visiting hours are 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday at Becker Funeral Home, Westwood. Services will be 12:30 p.m. Friday at St. John the Theologian Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Tenafly.