Shetakis, longtime food distributor to resorts, dies

Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2003 | 9:34 a.m.

Jim Shetakis started his Las Vegas food distribution business in the back of his pickup truck in 1948 and, 30 years later, amid overblown federal allegations that his warehouse had been contaminated, he returned to his roots, again selling goods off the back of his trucks.

The difference was that in 1978, Shetakis had built Shetakis Wholesalers Inc., at 3400 Western Ave., into the valley's largest dry food supplier, serving every major resort and restaurant in town.

Such charges would have crippled an ordinary businessman, but not Shetakis, who often clocked 16-hour work days and -- in good times and bad -- always put his customers' needs first.

"He fought the government tooth and toenail, proved that his warehouse was clean and never had another incident like it again," said Ralph Denton, Shetakis' attorney for about half a century. "Jim was a consummate businessman and a pioneer in the local food industry."

Dimitrios "Jim" L. Shetakis, a civic leader who sponsored youth sports teams and promoted interest in Greek culture through his volunteer work at St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church, died Sunday in Las Vegas of complications from lung cancer. He was 78.

Services for the Las Vegas resident of 56 years will be 10 a.m. Thursday at St. John the Baptist Church. Visitation will be 6-7 p.m. today, also at the church. Burial will be in Paradise Memorial Gardens. Davis Funeral Home is handling the arrangements.

"My husband was a caring individual who always put his customers and his community first," said Viive Shetakis, a longtime business acquaintance and friend who married Shetakis in 2000. His first wife, Dorothea, died in 1988 after 40 years of marriage.

"He was such a hard worker who often began his day at 4 a.m. and worked late into the night, as well as on holidays and Sundays," Viive Shetakis said. "Because of his dedication, his customers thought the world of him."

At no time was that more evident than from 1978 through 1980, when Shetakis fought the federal government after officials confiscated $141,812 worth of food from his warehouse in March 1978 when it was discovered that mice had eaten through some flour, cereal, rice and snacks.

In November 1980, Shetakis pleaded no contest to one misdemeanor count of storing food in an unsanitary warehouse, but U.S. District Judge Roger Foley in effect vindicated Shetakis when he handed down just a $100 fine and characterized the case as one of "government overreaching and probably even of government harassment." Ten other counts were dismissed.

News accounts of the time indicated that just $492 worth of food had been damaged by eight mice, two squirrels and four birds.

"Jim had always kept an immaculate warehouse," Denton said. "What had happened was that when his trucks were loading food, (the birds and animals) entered the building through the open bay doors."

Born Jan. 4, 1925, in Hannah, Wyo., Shetakis was the second oldest of four children of Greek immigrants Harry Shetakis and the former Helen Sapsakis. Harry, a coal miner, was killed in a cave-in when Jim was 4, and Helen moved the family to Modesto, Calif.

Later, she moved to Las Vegas and, as Helen Gianopulos, worked to preserve the traditions and foods of her Greek island homeland of Crete. She died last October in Las Vegas at age 100. Her lone surviving child is Goldie Moran, Jim's sister and the widow of former Clark County Sheriff John Moran.

During World War II, Shetakis joined the Army Air Corps and served as a tailgunner on a B-17 bomber that flew missions over Germany. He settled in Las Vegas in 1948 and founded the business that he sold in 1999 when his health began to fail.

The new owners continue to operate the business as Shetakis Wholesalers Inc.

In addition to his wife and sister, Shetakis is survived by a son, Jimmy Shetakis; and three grandchildren, James, Jesse and Heather Shetakis, all of Las Vegas. He was preceded in death by two sons, Steven and Gregory Shetakis.