Dr. Stamatis E. Arkoulakis, M.D. died Monday January 22, 2018 in Rahway, NJ. He was 88.
Stamatis was born in Crete, Greece on January 20, 1930, a son to the late Vasiliki (Seimenis) and Emmanuel S. Arkoulakis. He was educated at the University of Athens, where he received his medical degree. He served his residency in general surgery at Jersey City Medical Center, and in plastic surgery at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. He lived in Hightstown and Edison, NJ before moving to Scotch Plains in 1980.

Stamatis volunteered in over 20 missions for Operation Smile, operating on patients in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, specializing in cleft lip and palate repair. He was a member of the Cretan Society, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, the New Jersey Society of Plastic Surgeons, and was a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. He served as chief of the Division of Plastic Surgery at JFK Medical Center in Edison, and also led the Cleft Lip and Palate Service at St. Peters Hospital in New Brunswick. Stamatis served in the Greek Army from 1955 - 1958 as a lieutenant in the medical corps. His gifts as a surgeon and humanitarian were manifest, but there was no role that he relished more than serving as a loving husband and devoted father and grandfather.

He is survived by his wife of 54 years Pauline S. nee: Klapsogeorge Arkoulakis, a daughter Diana Arkoulakis and her husband Ben Shear, a son Nolis S. Arkoulakis and his wife Elizabeth Cherot, and 3 grandchildren Philip, Molly and Leo.

Visitation will be Thursday, January 25, 2018 from 4 - 8 PM at the Valley Memorial Funeral Home 1012 Valley Rd., Gillette, NJ. A Greek Orthodox Mass will be celebrated on Friday, January 26, 2018 at St. Georges Greek Orthodox Church, 1101 River Rd., Piscataway, NJ at 11:00 AM. Burial will be on the island of Crete in Greece. Memorial contributions may be made to Operation Smile, 6435 Tidewater Drive, Norfolk, VA 23509. For more information and online condolences visit valleymemorialfuneralhome.net.

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