NEWPORT — In the days before Skyline and Gold Star Chili, there was the Crystal Chili Co.

        The Newport chili parlor was founded by Arthur “Art” T. Sarakatsannis, his father and three brothers. The family immigrated to the United States from Argos, Greece, when Mr. Sarakatsannis was 2.

        He ran Crystal Chili until his retirement 20 years ago. The restaurant was sold about 15 years ago, said Mary Quill, Mr. Sarakatsannis' daughter.

        “He was very sociable,” Mrs. Quill said of her father. “He never met a stranger and he was extremely generous to his friends and family. While he was at the chili parlor he gave people free food, free clothing, free rent — he did all kinds of things to help people in need in those days.”

        Mr. Sarakatsannis, of Newport, died Friday of heart failure after a brief illness. He was 88.

        After arriving in the United States, the Sarakatsannis family settled in New Hampshire. In the mid-1940s they moved to Northern Kentucky and put their hearts into the chili parlor.

        In his later years, Mr. Sarakatsannis especially cherished his two granddaughters. He enjoyed keeping physically fit and he worked out, until his illness, at the YMCA in downtown Cincinnati.

        “He might have been one of the (YMCA's) oldest members,” his daughter said.

        A son, Tom, died in 1983.

        Besides his daughter, Mr. Sarakatsannis is survived by his wife of 56 years, Jennie Sarakatsannis; a sister, Lorraine Mitrikov of Fort Thomas; a brother, Charles of Newport; and two grandchildren.

        Funeral is 1 p.m. today at Holy Trinity St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in Finneytown. Burial will follow at Evergreen Cemetery, Southgate.

        Memorials: Holy Trinity St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, 7000 Winton Road, Cincinnati 45224.

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