Obituary of Constantinos "Dino" Campanis

Constantinos (Dino) Emanuel Campanis, 62, passed away on March 16, 2012 in State College. Born February 17, 1950 in Williamsport, PA, he was the son of the late Emanuel and Doris Campanis. After graduating high school in 1968, Dino enlisted in the US Army. Following tours in Vietnam and Germany, he was honorably discharged in 1971. Upon his discharge, he worked with his parents, owners of Campanis Shoe Store and Repair, for many years. In 1996, Dino acquired the family business and began putting his own entrepreneurial mark in place. He became a licensed orthotist and expanded his business to serve people by providing custom orthotics and braces. He took great satisfaction from providing people with relief from their pain and becoming more mobile. For a number of years, Dino donated his time to the newspaper to answer Christmas letters from local children. He enjoyed providing children with a memorable experience of Santa Claus. Dino's love of his country and desire to help the troops spawned his effort to create Operation Shoebox. This initiative provided thousands of packages filled with useful items to servicemen and women in infantry units in the Middle East. He used his creative gift of working with his hands to enjoy time doing various wood carving endeavors. His greatest achievement was working on a carousel horse. His talents also included creating his own jewelry designs and making rings and bracelets. It gave him great pleasure to share his carvings and jewelry with those who meant so much to him and to those who helped him throughout his years. Dino's talents, along with his outgoing and friendly personality, were hallmarks of a life in helping others. He will be greatly missed by his family and the many friends he made over the years. He leaves behind daughters Alexis Campanis and Kiley McPherson; sisters Lucy Campanis, Callie DiMarco (Joe) and Vicki Mislinski; a brother, Nick Campanis (Karen); a niece, Eva Campanis; nephews Joe DiMarco (Christina), Chris DiMarco, Kevin DiMarco (Maryanne), Corey Mislinski (Jenn), Ryan Mislinski, Nathan Campanis, Alex Campanis and Ben Campanis; and a great nephew Antonio DiMarco. Visitation will be at Koch's Funeral Home, 2401 S. Atherton St., State College on Thursday, March 22, 2012, from 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m., followed by a Committal Service at 2 p.m. in Boalsburg Cemetery, with military honors. Memorial Contributions may be made in Dino's name to Wounded Warrior at 1120 G Street NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20005 or Pets Come First at 2451 General Potter Highway, Centre Hall, PA 16828. Online condolences may be made at www.kochfuneralhome.com.