John Kontos started Town & Country Lanes in Joliet

JOLIET – John Kontos was a business pioneer on West Jefferson Street, opening the Town & Country Lanes bowling center with a group of business partners at a time when it was surrounded by farms and open fields.

Kontos, 95, died Saturday.

Kontos and his partners opened the aptly named Town & Country Lanes in 1958, said his son, George Kontos.

“When he opened in 1958, there wasn’t any building [on Jefferson Street] west of Midland Avenue,” George said. “They envisioned Jefferson Street to be what it ended up becoming – the main drag and major thoroughfare that it is. Eventually, the city came to the bowling center. The city grew up around it.”

George joined the business in 1976, when his father was the last of the original investors still involved in Town & Country Lanes. He runs it today. The phones have been ringing at the business since the notice of John’s death.

“We’re getting calls from customers we haven’t seen in 10 years,” George said. “He was strong with the community. He was strong with his customer base.”

His father also was a strong family man, George said. Family included John’s late wife, Sophie Kontos, who also worked at Town & Country; two daughters, Lea Kontos and Joni Gonzalez; and five grandchildren.

John remained involved in the bowling center until just a few years ago, always enjoying the company of the patrons, George said.

“Until the time he was 90 or 92, he still came in and talked with people. He missed the people,” George said.

John was born in Joliet, but his Greek parents moved back to the old country when he was 1. They sent him back to Joliet at age 14 to live with a relative and get an education. But John left Joliet Township High School to work in a family grocery business that had stores in Joliet and Elgin.

He joined the Army in World War II and “served a couple of times under Gen. [George] Patton,” George said.

After the war, John got back into the family grocery business at the Paragon in Elgin. He was a bowler and was awarded a patch for hitting a 7-10 split in one tournament, George said.

John got into the bowling business when AMF Bowling Co. was looking for a location in Joliet. A nephew in the real estate business suggested building a bowling alley on West Jefferson Street, convinced that the city would grow in that direction.

“These guys got together in 1956 and went to AMF and decided they were going to get into the bowling business,” George said.

John’s funeral is 10 a.m. Thursday at All Saints Greek Orthodox Church, 102 N. Broadway St., Joliet. Entombment will follow at Woodlawn Memorial Park near Jefferson Street and Airport Drive in Joliet.