Nickolas Canoutas

Mr.Nickolas “Nick” Constantine Canoutas died on Tuesday, November 10, 2009. He was born in 1931 in the village of Voutiro in Evrytania, Greece. Nick left for the United States with his mother and sisters in 1947 -- his village was ravished during World War II and his family feared persecution during the Greek Civil War which immediately followed. They joined Nick’s father, Constantine “Gus” Canoutas, in Shelby, where he owned and managed a restaurant called Sanitary Lunch on South Lafayette Street. Nick graduated high school from Edwards Military Institute in Salemburg, NC. He subsequently was drafted into and completed his service in the United States Army. After the Army he returned to Shelby to join his brothers-in-law, Bill Nicopoulos and George Psilopoulos, to work at and eventually own and manage the Shelby Café.  Until the late 1990s, Nick, Bill and George were the life of the Café, a de facto downtown community center where folks were often served politics with their meals.

Nick married Hariklia Xristos Tiggeli, who is from a neighboring village in Greece, in 1967 and subsequently raised three kids, Constantine “Gus”, Evanthia “Eva” and Chris, in Shelby. Nick loved nothing more than traveling to Greece with his wife and children, gardening, and quail hunting with his beloved bird dogs on his farmland in Lattimore. He will always be remembered for his hard work and good humor, his emphasis on the importance of education, his empathy for those less fortunate, and his devotion to Greece and his family. He was preceded in death by his sister Kassiani Nicopoulos and brothers-in-law George Psilopoulos, Bill Nicopoulos and Emilios Papanastasiou. He is survived by his wife; his sisters Vasiliki Psilopoulos of Shelby and Helen Papanastasiou of Asheville; his three children and their spouses, Nancy Canoutas, Cristina Canoutas and Joshua Nadel; five grandchildren, Isabella Rebecca, Nikolas Constantine, Sofia Ariadne, Alexi Elizabeth and Rafael Nikolaos; and many nieces and nephews.

 The family will receive friends on Wednesday, November 11, 2009 at Cecil M. Burton Funeral Home and Crematory from 6:00-7:30 pm. 

Funeral Services will be held at Shelby Presbyterian Church on Thursday, November 12, 2009 at 3:00 pm, with Father Michael Varvarelis officiating.  Burial will follow at Cleveland Memorial Park. 

Memorials:  Hospice Cleveland County, 951 Wendover Heights Dr. Shelby, N. C.  28150

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