JOHN JAMES KAGURAS

John James Kaguras, of La Conner, died on Saturday, November 19, at the age of 76.

John was born in Pueblo, Colorado to James John and Susa Kaguras on September 26, 1940. He grew up with his younger sister Agnes and attended high school in Colorado Springs.

After completing his BA degree, John was accepted to Columbia University, New York for a Masters in Architecture. During his time there, he was a recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship and spent a year studying in Europe at Fontanbleau, Paris.

In Europe he met his first wife, and in 1962, he married Lili Rallis from Athens, Greece.

Returning to the U.S., John took a teaching position at Washington State University in Pullman from 1964 to 1970.

In 1970 he married his second wife, Sarah Bicknell, from Cambridge, England, who had a daughter, Zoe, from a previous marriage. John and Sarah had two sons, Demitrios Adam and Gabriel Zeus.

In 1973 the family moved to La Conner, where John worked in the area as an architect, including in the Mount Vernon office of noted architect Henry Klein.

In 2002, John retired from architecture to live out his days in his home Town of La Conner.

He was preceded in death by his stepdaughter Zoe and his sister Agnes. He leaves his two sons, Demitrios and Gabriel, and five grandchildren, Liam Kelly, Sophie Kelly, Demitri Kaguras, Tiana Kaguras and Kairos Kaguras.

The family is grateful to all of John’s friends and the Town of La Conner for their care of John that enabled him to stay in his home until this last year.

There will be a celebration of life ceremony for John in January, with details to be announced later.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to Seattle Children’s Hospital, which can be made online at http://www.seattlechildrens.org/ways-to-help/donate/

John is remembered as an eclectic mystic with a passion for landscape, design and art.