Jim Tsunis Sr., 94, powerhouse in LI real estate, business circles

Funny things would often happen to Jim Tsunis on his way to wherever he was heading. Like bumping into Cary Grant on the street. Or fixing the flat tire of a man who turned out to be the Suffolk Republican Party chairman. Or meeting a friend whose pal was legendary Yankees pitcher Whitey Ford.

The son of Greek immigrants, Dimitrios “Jim” Tsunis Sr. combined his serendipitous fortune with a work ethic that made the Long Islander a powerhouse in real estate, business, and political and charitable circles, his family and friends said. Buoyed by his success in the dairy business, he helped establish Dowling College and the Nickels restaurants and built several commercial and residential complexes.

His proudest accomplishment 

But next to his family, his proudest accomplishment was the Long Island Charities Foundation, whose “Tournament of Stars” annual golf classic attracted Bob Hope, Yogi Berra, Telly Savalas, Frankie Avalon and other celebrities Tsunis had befriended in the entertainment and sports worlds, family members said.

“I knew ‘em all,” Tsunis liked to say, remarking, according to family and friends, that this should be the title of any biography on him. 

Tsunis, of St. James, died on Christmas Day. He was 94.

“Jim was a true legend . . . one of the kindest men I’ve ever met,” said longtime friend Ed Wehrheim, Smithtown’s supervisor. “He was like a magnet. There would always be people around him, whether they were celebrities or whether they were just the average person. He would always engage in conversation with anybody.”

He was an inveterate and humorous storyteller, perhaps because he had myriad life experiences, from Brooklyn Dodgers bat boy to dairy magnate, an entrepreneur who vacationed and golfed with the likes of Jackie Gleason and Savalas.

“It doesn’t cost anything to be kind,” Tsunis often told people, underscoring a trait his family and friends believe was a key to his relationships.

Dowling history

In one of Tsunis’ favorite stories, he was on the board of Adelphi University in the late 1960s and made an offhand remark that the college’s Suffolk extension could be named after a fellow board member and developer for $2 million.

Bob Dowling paid.

In another oft-told tale, Tsunis stopped a man on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue. The stranger looked familiar and Tsunis asked if he was a Long Islander. It was Hollywood screen legend Cary Grant. After Tsunis apologized for not recognizing him, Grant said: “I’m tired. Let’s sit down.” The pair ended up talking in Central Park for more than half an hour, according to family members of Tsunis.

“He was a very upbeat guy and could strike up a conversation with anybody,” said Belle Terre resident Jim Tsunis Jr. of his father.

Born in Brooklyn, the elder Tsunis was a sports fan from an early age. At 12, he was a bat boy for the summer with the Brooklyn Dodgers, meeting future Hall of Famers. In his teens, Tsunis caddied at the Engineers Country Club in Roslyn for boxing greats Joe Louis and Sugar Ray Robinson. He also played competitive baseball in Brooklyn and even got a tryout with the old New York Giants, his family said.

Dumping high school, he lied about his age to join the Marines shortly after World War II ended, an enlistment that took him to Guam, China and Pearl Harbor, said son-in-law Scott Zamek, who had talked to Tsunis about writing his biography. In a serendipitous encounter, a captain assigning duties to Tsunis and other Guam newcomers asked if Tsunis’ family operated a Brooklyn restaurant he had frequented — it was the Tsunis family business. That was how Tsunis, a corporal, was put in charge of the mess hall, got his own tent, with air conditioning, and his own Jeep, Zamek said.

After an honorable discharge, Tsunis gained restaurant experience helping his brother run the Rotisserie restaurant in Great Neck. Years later with his family, Tsunis would open the Bonwit Inn in Commack and the Watermill events venue in Smithtown.

Career launch

He was barely in his 20s when a family friend introduced him to the president of a residential milk delivery company, who hired him as a salesman, Zamek said. It turned out to be a big break for Tsunis, who ascended the milk career ladder with various companies before buying Presske’s Dairy in Lake Grove in 1955, still in his 20s.

It was during one of his commutes from Brooklyn that he stopped to help a motorist with a flat tire — R. Ford Hughes, Suffolk’s GOP leader from 1951 to 1959. Ford introduced Tsunis to town political leaders and he eventually became a chief GOP fundraiser.

Tsunis embraced the entree into the political world, a move he believed could help at a time when he was starting to dream bigger, those who knew him said.

He partnered with family and friends on business ventures but had an especially close relationship with Yankees Hall of Famer Whitey Ford, who opened up doors to the rich and famous. Tsunis and Ford started insurance and real estate ventures, including building the Ford Professional Building, a local landmark for decades in Port Jefferson Station. They vacationed and golfed together, including at Jackie Gleason’s Florida home.

But the duo’s most rewarding effort was the Long Island Charities Foundation, which raises money for nonprofits, family and friends said. It started when a man who ran a trucking business went to Tsunis for help in fighting cancer because his secretary had the disease. Tsunis, Ford and some friends hatched up a two-day golfing extravaganza, using their connections to get big names like Bob Hope to play.

“It was something he enjoyed doing for Long Island,” Jim Tsunis Jr. said of his father. “He was a very giving person. He worked his entire life and he got to a place where he was able to give.”

In his 70s, Tsunis rose to head Smithtown’s Conservative Party in 2003 but became embroiled in a political war when he backed nonparty candidates and Ed Walsh, head of the Suffolk Conservatives, got him kicked out for being “disloyal.” Tsunis sued Walsh in 2008 but eventually joined the Suffolk Independence Party.

“If he liked you, he went out of his way," Zamek said. "He always kind of did what he felt was the right thing to do.”

Along with Jim Tsunis Jr., he is survived by sons Louis of Port Jefferson, George of Winter Garden, Florida, and daughters Marsia Farrell of St. James and Alexia Zamek of Port Jefferson. A funeral Mass was held Friday at the Greek Orthodox Church of the Assumption in Port Jefferson. He was buried in Cedar Hill Cemetery in Port Jefferson. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Long Island Charities Foundation.