Panagiotis was born in Viniani, Evrytanias in 1946 to Dimitrios and Steliani (Kakavias) Karanikas. His father was killed in the Greek Civil War when he was only 3 years old. He married Hrisanthi Tsoilas (whom was born in Viniani in 1960 to Vasilios and Maria (Sanoulis) Tsoilas) in 1977 in Viniani, and they moved to Athens where Panagiotis worked as an electrician. In 1978, they welcomed their first child, Stella. In 1980 their son Dimitri was born. In October, 1980, they immigrated to America and settled in New Jersey, where Panagiotis continued working as an electrician for the New York public school system. In 1986, they moved to Greenville, South Carolina, where they ran a successful restaurant called Pete's of Piedmont for forty years. Their daughter Stella married Josh Mayes, and together they had three children: Gabriella, Panagiotis, and Konstantinos. Their son Dimitri married Andrigoula (Hondros), and they had two children: Panagiotis and Hrisanthi.