Born in Chicago into a family of 14 children,[1] Pelekoudas graduated from Crane Tech High School.

In the 1998 book Baseball's Golden Greeks by Diamantis Zervos, Jim Campanis describes a "Greek moment" in baseball when he was batting against Cincinnati Reds pitcher Milt Pappas, with Alex Grammas the third base coach and Pelekoudas calling balls and strikes behind the plate.

Pelekoudas was forced to retire after the 1975 season, due to then-limits that Major League Baseball had on umpires' ages.

His son Lee Pelekoudas worked in the Seattle Mariners organization for 30 years, first as the traveling secretary and lastly as interim general manager.

[2] Pelekoudas, who lived in Sunnyvale, California, for most of his career, died there due to heart failure at age 66, three weeks after suffering a stroke.