By Nathan Duke
The owner of a Bayside− and Queens Village−based auto dealership was heartbroken last weekend after a Long Island car crash claimed his wife, with whom he would have celebrated their 60th anniversary next month.
John Koufakis, who owns four Star dealerships in Bayside and another in Queens Village, was driving his 2008 Chrysler with his wife, Georgia, 83, Saturday from their home in Old Brookville, L.I., to a local shopping center when their car collided with another vehicle on Route 106.
“She was in such good health and then to be gone in just one minute,” he said. “We were just one month shy of our 60th anniversary.”
John Koufakis said his wife performed a lot of community work with seniors in their Long Island neighborhood as well as sitting on seven or eight boards.
“She was a generous and very caring person,” he said. “She held our whole place together. I must have had a thousand calls this week.”
The couple first lived in Jackson Heights after they were married in 1949 before moving to Jamaica Estates, where they had three children. They eventually moved to Long Island, but continued to operate the Star dealerships in Queens.
John Koufakis said emergency responders had to cut the couple out of their car following the crash. The couple was taken to a local hospital, but Georgia Koufakis had died by the time they arrived.
John Koufakis said he suffered a minor back injury and a dislocated shoulder in the crash.
Reach reporter Nathan Duke by e−mail at nduke@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718−229−0300, Ext. 156.
