Paraskevi "vivi" Couban

Paraskevi (Vivi) Couban was born in Tzizifies, a suburb of Athens, Greece and passed away in Halifax on July 9, 2026 at the age of 89. She was a remarkable and resilient woman who lived a full life filled with lots of family time, travel, love and excellent health. She lived and worked in three different countries: Greece, England and Canada. She taught by example and showed what it means to work hard at whatever task you are given, do your best, be honest, reliable, kind and thoughtful and always do the right thing.Vivi embodied manners and politeness; she was a true lady who never let a swear word pass her lips.

Vivi was the oldest of twin girls. Her sister Maria passed away in June 1946 at the age of 9 never having walked or talked due to complications from a difficult birth. Her father was killed in the Greek civil war in December of that same year. Out of that deep loss and tragedy developed an incredible bond of love and devotion between Vivi and her mother Stella. So deep in fact that her mother went on Vivi’s honeymoon! Despite living on a Military widow’s pension, Vivi and her mother prioritised education and Vivi was able to attend a prestigious US college in Athens.

One of Vivi’s first jobs was on a U.S. army base in Athens where she met her husband John, a travelling salesman at the time, to whom she was married for 59 years until his death in January 2019. John and Vivi started their married life together in Greece where their two children, Stephen (Dr. Stephen Couban, 1961-2019) and Stella were born. Vivi and her young family and her mother moved to England in the winter of 1962 where they lived until the family emigrated to Halifax in March, 1975 (again, with her mother of course) with the goal of providing a better life for their two children. Taking what Vivi learned from her mother, and always wanting them to have an easier life than she did, she prioritized the education of Stephen and Stella. This led them both to successful careers in medicine and law, something that was always a point of pride for Vivi and John.

The move to Canada was difficult at first particularly on Vivi. When the family moved to Prospect Bay, Vivi found a wonderful community of friends and neighbours, many of whom became lifelong friends. That move, and Vivi’s subsequent employment in Halifax, first at Manuge Gallery and later at Atlantic Nova Printers, made Vivi feel more fulfilled and settled.

By some sort of divine coincidence, love and light were brought into Vivi’s life in December 1991 and June 1999, the same two months that her father and sister had passed away decades earlier - with the birth of her first grandchild, Josey, in December 1991 and then a few years later with the birth of her second grandchild Axl in June 1999. She loved her two grandchildren dearly and was very proud of both of them. She wished she could have spent more time with them but geography and timing weren’t always in her favour. She loved spending holidays like Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving with her grandchildren and was lucky enough to have spent what turned out to be her last Mother’s Day with her grandchildren, Stella and Bruce in Halifax.

John and Vivi left Prospect Bay and moved to their home in Halifax in 2008 to be closer to the hospital care that John needed. Vivi embraced the move as it meant she could walk everywhere and be more independent. She loved her volunteer work at the IWK Children’s hospital where she tended the gardens for years.

Tragedy stuck Vivi again in 2017 with the sudden and unexpected death of her beloved son in law Jim Matthews followed soon thereafter with the death of her husband John in January 2019 and her son Stephen in March 2019, These tragedies took a huge toll on the entire family including of course Vivi but she was blessed to be surrounded by an incredible network of love and support from her friends and neighbours in Prospect Bay and Regina Terrace as well as some of Jim’s family and Stephen and Jim’s friends and colleagues. That love and support continued for years with calls, visits and regular check ins and food deliveries by many of them. At the epicentre of this support network is Rosemary. She entered the family as John’s caregiver a decade ago and became an integral part of the family and Vivi’s supporter and dear friend. Their bond of friendship was forged out of a shared deep loss and tragedy that they had both endured but went beyond that to become a very special friendship that Vivi cherished dearly. With Rosemary’s love, care and support Vivi was able to live independently in her beautiful home in Halifax until just a few weeks before her death.

Vivi is survived by her daughter Stella, son in law Bruce (who she affectionately called Brucey) and grandchildren Josey and Axl.

The family would like to thank the doctors and staff of floor 8.1 at the QE II hospital and Parkland at the Gardens for their professionalism, care and compassion during the challenging past few months.

Although Vivi loved flowers, please consider donating to the Wickwire Fund ℅ the QEII Foundation in memory of Vivi or planting a flower in your garden in her honour and memory.

In keeping with Vivi’s wishes, cremation will take place. There will be a small private gathering at Vivi’s house on Thursday July 16, 2026 from 2-4 pm.