James A Denney's Obituary
A funeral service was Oct. 2, 2025, in All Saints Eastern Orthodox Church, Independence, Ohio, for Atty. James A. Denney, 75, who fell asleep in the Lord, September 29 with family at his side.
Jim was born Nov. 2, 1949, in Youngstown, a son of Vergil and Mary Maropoulakis Denney. He was a graduate of Chaney High School and Youngstown State University, and earned a Juris Doctor at Capital University Law School in Columbus in 1977.
A member of the Mahoning County Bar Association, Jim was an attorney in the Mahoning Valley for nearly 50 years, with law offices in downtown Youngstown and Girard. Jim volunteered legal services for military veterans at the Carl Nunziato VA Clinic, for the Second Amendment Foundation, and had served about 10 years as national legal advisor for the Pancretan Association of America.
He founded and organized the PAA Mahoning Valley Chapter, Evangelos Peroulakis/Mikis Theodorakis Association of Cretans in 2001. He was a student of Greek and especially Cretan history, and had co-authored articles published about Greece's struggles against the Ottoman Empire, and the leadership of Eleftherios Kyriakou Venizelos of Crete, where Jim's maternal grandparents were born.
He also had articles published about the Battle of Crete during World War II, and he helped establish the nonprofit Venizelos Foundation USA. Jim and his wife, Marta, owned and operated Simply Crete, an import store in Girard, a source for many in the Greek-American community for food items from their homeland.
Besides his wife, whom he married in 2001, he leaves four sons, Ted (Beth) Denney of Farmdale, Jesse Denney of Youngstown, Lou (Caitlin) Denney of Poland, Daniel Saylor of East Palestine, and Cameron Ruble of Girard; a daughter, Athena (J.J.) Denney of Columbus; four grandchildren, Emily, Christopher, Jonathan and Zoe; three brothers, George (Arlene) Denney of Youngstown, Michael (Patti) Denney of Twain Harte, CA., and Thomas (Marilyn) Denney of Boca Raton, FL.; many nieces and nephews; and cousins from the Tzagournis, Saridakis, Denney and Vujevic families.
Besides his parents, three brothers, Philip, John, and Stephen, are deceased. Arrangements were by Yurch Funeral Home, Parma, and burial was in Belmont Park Cemetery, Liberty Township.
The family requests material tributes take the form of contributions to the Pancretan Association of America; National Rifle Association; or All Saints Eastern Orthodox Church, Independence, OH.
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