Outstanding Athlete and Marine

Mr. Panarites was a lifelong Ilion resident. He was born April 5, 1919. He graduated with the IHS Class of 1938. He received his Bachelors, Masters and Certificate of Advanced Study from Syracuse University. During World War II, he served his country as a Marine. This training would come serve him well on a dark November night in 1953!

Fearless Gus

The tale of what happened to Gus Panarites, on a late November, Sunday evening, in 1953, is so astounding it warrants republication in its entirety. So, while you sit down to give thanks during this Thanksgiving season, be thankful, that at one-time, Ilion had a quick-witted citizen, Gus Panarites, who survived and thwarted the assault of these criminals.

Monday November 23, 1953

The Ilion Sentinel

Dragnet Snares Trio After Shortly Attempt

"This is a hold-up"

ILION - The three men reported by Ilion police to be implicated in the attempted robbery of Panarites Grocery early this morning were still being questioned at 12:30 today (Monday) by Chief Maurice Goldin.

Police said they expected to arraign the trio early this afternoon before Police Judge James Curtis.

The men had been questioned all morning by Chief Goldin and other patrolmen in an attempt to get last night's incidents accurately reported. Police in Frankfort, Ilion and Utica worked like a team to apprehend the trio who had reportedly split up after they were seen by Gus Panarites in downtown Ilion shortly after the attempt to rob his store on upper Otsego Street.

Police radio work, road blocks and quick action by patrolmen, including Milford Yardley of the Ilion force, were responsible for the pick up of the men.

Chief Goldin and other department men worked on the case the rest of the night and all this morning, tying up the loose ends of the story.

Panarites was said by police to have challenged at least one of the men on First Street as Panarites drove downtown to report the robbery. It was then that the men split up and headed in different directions, the report added.

ILION - Three valley men have been picked up by Utica and Ilion police in connection with an attempted robbery late last night at the Panarites grocery store on the corner of Otsego and West Streets in Ilion police reported this morning.

A complete Investigation is now underway, and the three men are expected to be arraigned before Police Judge James Curtis in the near future.

The attempted holdup occurred late Sunday night, immediately after Gus Panarites, owner, and Jerry Therodoratas, an employee of the store, had closed up for the night.

According to Patrolman Milford Yardley, as Panarites opened the door on his panel truck parked in the back of the store, Wiltse, who had been concealed inside the truck emerged and confronted Panarites with a .30 gauge rifle, and snapped, "This is a hold-up".

Panarites immediately ran over, and summoned Therodoratas. The two then pursued the trio, who by this time were getting away in a black Buick Convertible, Yardley added.

After chasing the escaping car as far as the Frankfort Bridge, they turned bark and notified the Frankfort police.

An alarm was sent out, and police set up road blocks on Route 5 and at Turner and Broad St. in Utica. About ten minutes later, the getaway car was picked up at Deerfield Corners by Patrolmen John Fanelli and Edward Sodja.

Sequence of Valley Capture like Dragnet

"... he's driving a black Buick convertible"

The Ilion Sentinel Thursday, November 26, 1953

The almost hopeless odds against which modern criminal - or would-be criminals - operate are graphically illustrated in Ilion this week in the case of the three men arrested for the attempted robbery near Panarites Grocery Store.

Police are quick to admit that the co-operation and quick thinking of Gust Panarites and a certain element of Luck made this particular job a bit easier - but it is easy to see that these men would have been picked up anyway - because of the way the law-enforcement agencies went to work.

A time-table of the attempted robbery would go something like this:

1:40 A.M. - Panarites reported to Patrolman Milford Yardley at the Ilion Police Department that a man had attempted to hold him up at the point of a gun.

1:43 A.M. - Frankfort and Little Falls Police were alerted on the police radio network and Utica police were advised by telephone that one of the men was heading up the North Road. At about the same time, Panarites' companion, who had followed the holdup car through North Ilion to North Frankfort was reporting the incident to Frankfort Police.

1:50 A.M. - Yardley telephoned the County Jail and secured the name and address of the owner of the car identified by Panarites through the license number he noted at the time of the attempted robbery.

2:05 A.M. - One of the men was picked up near North Utica by three radio prowl cars of the Utica Police as he stopped at a garage for oil.

3:00 A.M. - This man was returned to Ilion for questioning.

5:20 A.M. - Chief Maurice Goldin and Sgt. George Long picked up the second man at his Otsego Street apartment.

7:00 A.M. - Goldin, George Long and State Police took into custody the last of three at his home in Schuyler Lake Village.

7:13 A.M. - Police found the mask used in the holdup, retrieving it from a ditch at the side of the Warren Road south of Mohawk.

8:00 A.M. - Police started taking statements; the men were fingerprinted and photographed.

4:00 P.M. - Arraignments were held before Police Judge James Curtis and the police closed up after a busy day.

Mr. Constantine/Konstantine 'Gus' Panarites

School Portrait

"Gus" grew up in his family's restaurant, the "Ilion Candy Kitchen", later known as the "J. Panarites Restaurant". He began his career in 1944, when then-Superintendent Earl P. Watkins asked him to serve as athletic director at Ilion High School. Mr. Panarites resigned, after a year as athletic director, to manage his family's business, the J. Panarites Restaurant on Otsego Street, Ilion.

While running the restaurant, he earned his master's degree in business education from Syracuse University. In 1959, he rejoined the Ilion High School Faculty, teaching History. He ended his career with his appointment to the post of Superintendent of the Ilion Central School District, in 1975. As school superintendent, Mr. Panarites led the district through construction of the Remington School and the subsequent elementary school consolidation. He retired in 1978.

Ilion History Teachers - 1961
Mr. Leo Gyrgiel, Mr. Constantine Panarites, Mrs. Ruth Derby, Miss Barbara Schwarz, and Mr. Robert Salisbury.

Gus was an avid fan of Ilion Central School and Syracuse University sports and scholastic programs. He was a director on the Ilion Central School District Foundation Board. A scholarship fund was established by Gus and his sister Mary, at the Ilion High School, and is awarded annually in their parents' name. Those wishing to contribute to the "James C. and Helen Panarites Family Memorial Scholarship Fund" may do so, c/o School District Foundation Board, Weber Avenue, Ilion NY 13357.

Mr. Constantine J. "Gus" Panarites passed away at home Monday, December 7, 1998, after a brief illness. Mr. Panarites was a lifelong Ilion resident.

We salute the memory of Mr. Panarites. He was all these things: accomplished athlete, leader, entrepreneur, businessman, patriot, educator, dedicated to his family and a philanthropist. Annually, the Panarites family funded The James Panarites Family Valedictorian and Salutatorian Scholarships and the James Panarites Family Scholar/Athlete Award.

We are thankful that on that night in November 1953, Mr. Panarites was brave and smart enough to outwit the thugs. Now, we can add fearless crime-stopper to the list!

All of the Superintendent portraits and plaques are on display in the Superintendent's Conference room at the Central Valley Central School District in Ilion, NY.