Mary Vassilaros

September 29,1923 – May 19,2017

Born in Ikaria, Greece on September 29th, 1923, Mary Mavronicolas Vassilaros lived a beautiful, long life surrounded by family and friends. She was preceded in death by her husband, Ulysses Nicholas Vassilaros (1967) and her son, Nicholas Ulysses Vassilaros (2015). She is survived by her two loving daughters, Mathilda (Dr. Kyriakos) Karras and Laureen (Elias) Andriotis, her four beloved grandchildren, George (Marlene Selene) Karras, Mary (Dimitris) Zafeiropoulos, Constantine Nicholas Andriotis and Mary Elizabeth Andriotis, and her two precious great-grandchildren, Anthony Kyriakos Karras and Matilda Zafeiropoulos.

She lived the first 12 years of her life in Ikaria with her mother, Lambrini Stefanadis Mavronicolas, and two brothers, Constantine (Gus) Mavronicolas and Dimitri (Jimmy) Mavronicolas. In 1935, Mary and Jimmy, along with their mother, came to Wilmington, NC to join their father, Anthony, and their brother, Gus. Mary graduated from New Hanover High School, then attended Greensboro College and the University of Pittsburgh.

In 1947, she married Ulysses Nicholas Vassilaros and moved to Jackson Heights, New York. She had her first child, Mathilda, in 1948. She moved to Elmhurst, NY. Her son Nicholas was born in 1952. She then moved to Jamaica Estates, NY. Her daughter, Laureen, was born in 1961.

In the summer of 1966, she returned home to Ikaria, Greece, with her husband and three children for the first time since she left. The following summer, her husband, Ulysses, passed away from a massive heart attack while vacationing with his family in Myrtle Beach, SC.

In 1974, her first grandchild, George Anthony Karras, was born. Her second grandchild, Mary Lambrini Karras, was born in 1979. Her third and fourth grandchildren, Constantine Nicholas Andriotis and Mary Elizabeth Andriotis, were born in 1997.

She left New York in 1990 and retired to Sand Key, Clearwater, Florida. She lived there until 1998. Then she moved in with her daughter, Laureen, her son-in-law, Elias, and her grandchildren, Constantine Nicholas and Mary Elizabeth, and remained there until her passing.

In lieu of flowers donations can be made to the Pan-Icarian Foundation:

Pan-Icarian Foundation

PO Box 79037

Pittsburgh PA 15216-0037