Shambhala Chicago sangha member George Coutrakon transitioned from this life on Sunday evening, September 20th, surrounded by his loving family as he passed on. George is survived by his wife, Katherine, and his children, Alexandria and Nicholas.
George attended Vajradhatu Seminary, led by the Venerable Chögyam Trungpa, Rinpoche, in the early 1980’s. After moving to California with his family, George would annually fly a single engine airplane to Colorado to do retreats at Drala Mountain
Center.
When George’s beloved stepbrother John Robert died, George was the executor of his estate. (Interestingly, John Robert had been the roommate of Johnathan Eric, a sangha member, who went on to become the Vajradhatu Ambassador to Chicago). George saw
to it that $60,000 of that estate was bequeathed to the Chicago Dharmadhatu, (now the Shambhala Center), which helped our sangha to purchase our first property at 7331 N.Sheridan Road. It was owning and then selling that property that allowed us to
purchase our current space in the West Loop. So, we have, in large part, George to thank for our current home. His generosity didn’t stop there, when last year he served with the Chicago Membership and Fundraising circle, and helped raise $50,000 in that campaign.
As a high-energy particle physicist, George was a pioneer of medical physics at Fermilab, where he and his team developed the first clinical proton accelerator for cancer therapy. He went on to launch the first such treatment program at Loma Linda
Medical Center in California. Later in life George returned to academia where he became a tenured Professor of Physics at Northern Illinois University.
Everyone in the sangha who got to know George found him warm, engaging and open. He had a joy of life and enthusiasm that was contagious. He is dearly missed. There will be a Sukhavati Ceremony honoring George at the Chicago Shambhala
Center at 1PM, Sunday October 25th. Reception to follow.
