Obituary of Mario John Kokonas

KOKONAS: Mario John Kokonas, beloved husband of Fotina and dear father of John and Agelo, died peacefully with family by his side on Tuesday, July 19, 2011 at the Assiniboine Centre, at the age of 67 years. Mario moved to Canada in 1958 at the age of 15 to reside in Saskatoon with his brother, Spero, and father, John. His father went back to Greece and his brother, Albert, came shortly thereafter. They helped each other adapt to our beautiful country of Canada, a land filled with opportunity for those willing to work hard and make sacrifices for a better life. In this regard, all three brothers flourished. With the marriage to his wonderful wife, Fotina, on November 4th, 1971, and the birth of his sons, John and Agelo in 1974 and 1976 respectfully, he was finally complemented and the origins of his legacy of family business were on the horizon. After several smaller ventures in the restaurant and service industry, Mario matured into the Brandonite and restaurateur we all knew and loved. Mario was never formally educated, although, he learned through the school of life, graduated with honours, and truly became a professor to many. Mario lived in many towns and worked various jobs to realize his dream of self-employment. He was known in the community for the Voyageur restaurant in Minnedosa in the early 70's with his brothers, Albert and Spero. He then became involved with Kokonas Restaurant in Brandon in 1974, which he started with his brother, Albert. He finally realized his true calling with pizza in 1981 with Romana Pizza, his own business, and the rest is history. After his first attempt at retirement in 2000, Mario embarked on his last venture; a retirement project with his family called Marino's Pizza. For those who don't know, Marino is Greek for Mario, and we all spent his last handful of years there together in his home, not his workplace. Mario was a simple, modest, hard working man, who participated in life unconventionally to successfully have a hobby for his job. When he wasn't working at his hobby, he enjoyed his apple trees, day trips to Clear Lake and the outdoors in general. Mario is survived by: his wife Fotina, sons John and Agelo, his mother Chrisoula in Greece, his sister Marina in Greece, his sister Matoula (Nick) in Chicago, his brother Spero (Sophia) in Toronto, his brother Albert (Violeta) in Brandon, his brother-in-law Bill Galanis, his brother and sister-in-law Peter and Toula in Greece, and a plethora of aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins and extended family that are typical to a Greek family. This includes all the people we were lucky enough to interact with throughout his time on earth. Our employees were our family, and our customers were our relatives. He was predeceased by: his father John from Greece, his brother-in-law Manoli from Greece, his father and mother-in-law Agelo and Eleni from Greece. Thank you to all the people who helped Mario and our family over the years in and out of the restaurants. Thank you to all the good staff at the hospital who helped us through our many days there. Thank you also to Dr. Egan and the Issigonis family for going above and beyond to extend his time on earth. Thank you to everyone we interacted with and participated with over the years that allowed us to be part of our community of Brandon. Thank you to all for the prayers and well wishes for Mario – we hope that life will reciprocate those thoughts and feelings to all of you and your families in this lifetime. Prayers were held at the Brockie Donovan Chapel, on Friday, July 22, 2011. The Funeral Service took place at the Brockie Donovan Chapel on Saturday, July 23, 2011 with Fr. Spiridon Vandoros officiating. Interment followed at the Brandon Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Mario may be made to a charity of choice.