Aristotellis Bitzonis

A longtime resident of Stamford CT, Telly passed away peacefully surrounded by family on August 22, 2024. He was born in his beloved Kalamata, Greece on March 12, 1927, to the late Angela and Dimitrios Bijonides (Bitzonis). Telly was the second of five children who grew up in Greece during WWII and the Greek Civil War and emigrated to his even more beloved, United States, in 1955 where he met and married his true love, Paraskevi (Frieda) Chafoulias Lines, on February 24, 1957, in Stamford, and they made their welcoming home in Springdale, since 1960. Paraskevi passed away on February 1, 2020 and he missed her greatly. He is survived by his daughter Angela Colarossi and son James Bitzonis, daughter- in- law Kirsten Wiese Bitzonis, grandchildren Zachary Aristotle Bitzonis, James Alexander Bitzonis, Olivia Paraskevi Bitzonis, Dominic Chaz Colarossi (Klara) and 1Lt. Aristotle James Colarossi. He is further survived by his sister Malima Fontinopoulos of Kalamata, Greece and brother Nicholas Bijonides of Tampa, FL, his brother-in-law George Lines and sister-in-law Angie Lines of Stamford and sister-in-law Helen Chochos of Norwalk. His sister Dora and brother Hercules predeceased him, as did his many Koumbaras and Koumbaros, including Harry Sentementes, with whom he enjoyed spending countless days. He was most affectionately known as Papou by all, and Theo (Uncle) Telly by his loving nephews, nieces, grandnephews, grandnieces and godchildren. He greeted everyone with a big smile and coined his own phrase “Aye, how you do?” He loved to write and tell stories and sing songs, in many different languages, and was quite the entertainer and excellent dancer. He was a generous, kind and gentle soul who was always available to help those in need and would do anything to help his family- especially Paraskevi. He was an extremely proud and patriotic man who loved to laugh and make others laugh – he could “crack you up.” He was a big sports fan and loved watching AEK, his childhood favorite Greek soccer team, and was a huge New York Yankees fan who watched or listened to every game.
Telly also had many other talents: fisherman, boat captain, carpenter, mason, mechanic, builder, toolmaker – he did it all, and retired from Pitney Bowes in 1993. He then became the family taxi driver and spent tremendous amounts of time with his grandchildren.
He was a faithful parishioner at the Church of the Archangels and the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church and lifetime member of the AHEPA (American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association). He was immensely thankful and grateful for the care given to him by Angela, James, Kirsten and Olivia. He would often say “God Bless Telly, Kalamata #1.” We cherished our times with Papou and thank God for the memories. We will miss him dearly.
May his memory be eternal.
Family and friends may call at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church at 1230 Newfield Avenue, Stamford, CT on Tuesday, August 27th from 9:30am to 11am, followed by the funeral service at 11am and interment at St. John’s Cemetery, Darien, CT thereafter.
Memorial donations in remembrance of Telly can be made to The Tunnel to Towers Foundation (T2T.org) and/or The Wounded Warrior Project (woundedwarriorproject.org).
To leave online condolences please visit the family guestbook hosted on www.cognetta.com.