NEW YORK — The Greek American community is mourning the sudden death of Ioanna Giannopoulou, the longtime operations director of Greek American radio station Cosmos FM 91.5, who died unexpectedly at the age of 73.
The news was announced by a visibly distraught Stelios Taketzis during a radio broadcast, as an official statement from the station’s Board of Directors was still pending. According to preliminary information, Giannopoulou was in Lamia, Greece, where she had traveled for her summer vacation, when she died suddenly. News of her death became known shortly after 7 a.m. New York time. The cause of death has not yet been determined.
Giannopoulou was born in Lamia and raised in Athens. In 1973, she immigrated with her family to Brooklyn, New York, where she became deeply involved in the Greek American community.
She studied English writing at New York University (NYU) and graduated from Brooklyn College with a degree in Liberal Arts. Her connection to radio began at the age of 18, when she worked on the daily Greek-language “Paralikas Show” on WEVD.
She later stepped away from radio to devote herself to raising her two sons, George and Thomas. At the same time, she worked in the family business and attended evening classes in accounting and computer science.
Giannopoulou was particularly active in the Three Hierarchs community in Brooklyn. She volunteered her services, served as president of the Parents and Teachers Association, participated on the school council and was active in the Philoptochos Society.
In 2001, she joined GAEPIS, the organization that operates Cosmos FM 91.5. She began as a volunteer, later became an administrative assistant and, in 2006, assumed the position of operations director.
In that role, she worked with more than 50 volunteers, helping oversee the operation and growth of the Greek American station, whose programming serves listeners throughout the greater New York area and internationally.
As of press time, funeral arrangements had not yet been announced.
