BEVERLY: John “Jack” Norman Georgandis died peacefully in his sleep on Monday May 1 at age 88. As the son of a Greek immigrant, it was fitting that he passed on Greek Orthodox Easter. His parents were John Georgandis of Lynn and Grace Crowley of Manchester-by-the-Sea. He was born in Salem, Ma in 1927, just before the depression began. He was also predeceased by his brother David of Salem.
ack is survived by his loving wife of 46 years, Pauline Georgandis (née Hatch) of Beverly. He also leaves behind daughter Judy Troncoso and her husband Dr. Eudaldo Troncoso of Danvers and Palm Coast, Fla.; son Steven of Palm Coast, Fla.; son Ronald Carnevale and his wife Cathy of Beverly; son Richard Carnevale and his wife Jeanne of Peabody; son David Carnevale and his wife Sheri of Beverly; daughter Diane Carnevale and her husband Dan Ryan of Hamilton; sister Marlene of Beverly; and numerous nieces, grandchildren and great grandchildren. He also leaves behind his beloved dog “Ginger.”
Although no one would ever confuse Jack with “The World’s Most Interesting Man,” he did love a cold Dos Equis beer, and he certainly was interesting in a loveable curmudgeonly sort of way. Those who knew him might agree that his tombstone should be engraved with something like “Resisted authority to the end.”
Jack loved Greek food, smoked a pipe for a short while and had an appreciation for red wine and good quality, single-malt Scotch. Neat. He and his wife Pauli loved to travel. They drove up and down the eastern seaboard several times, and made many trips and cruises to Europe, the UK and the Caribbean. But Jack seemed most content basking in the warm sunshine of a tropical island. With his Greek blood Jack would quickly bronze up like a Greek God. We called him Zorba. During one of his many visits to the Cayman Islands, he and his fabulous tan caught the attention of the marketing department for a major cruise line, and they hired him to model for one of their promotional catalogs, sitting on the beach in a Panama hat, enjoying a tropical drink. That was his fifteen minutes of fame.
When he was young he had a bit of a James Dean Rebel Withough a Cause wild streak in him. Along with his friends —Gunnar Pope, Tex Houston and Trigger Watson (all real names!) — he raced in miniature race cars at New England Speedway. He had a lead foot on the roads. One of his passions was his Harley Davidson motorcycle, which he proudly drove to work each morning in the warmer months while wearing his shirt and tie. He’d sometimes let a little loose on the drive back home and take off his tie. That was the rebel in him.
Jack worked at General Electric in Lynn, in the aircraft manufacturing division, for more than three decades. We never actually knew what he did there as a “planner” in turbine aviation. He once described it as designing the parts that made the parts for aircrafts. He once came very close to accepting a job transfer to GE in Geneva, Switzerland, which would have entirely rewritten his life, but he chose to keep his family in Beverly.
He loved football and for years he and his friends went to the Army-Navy football games. He was a loyal fan at North Shore high school football and hockey games, and of course loved the New England Patriots. He also loved puttering and tinkering in his garage full of tools.
Jack was a fireman first class in the Navy during World War II, and he had fond memories of being stationed on a ship in the South Pacific. His last wish was for his ashes to be spread there, so his daughter Judy and her husband Ed plan to carry out that wish. There will be a private graveside service on Friday and a celebration of Jack’s life will be held later in the spring.