Eleni (Helen) Sogas

The visitation will be Thursday, June 2, from 10 to 10:53 AM at Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church followed immediately by the Trisagion. The funeral service will begin at 11:00 AM. Memorial contributions may be made to Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church.

Eleni was born in Drousha, Paphos, Cyprus on January 26, 1925. Adventure was always part of mom’s life. As a child she was always venturing into the unknown, being a mischievous young girl with her friends. Whether it was running through watermelon fields (grabbing one here and there) or climbing fig trees and feasting on the fruit, she liked foraging with her friends. Although she lost her mother at a young age and her father not long after, she continued working the fields and animals of their family farm and was well known as a shrewd person you could not take advantage of – she made sure they got the best possible deal for whatever they were trading. In her teen years, when the opportunity to emigrate to the US was brought by her uncle, she didn’t hesitate to raise her hand and say “I want to go” on another adventure. Soon she and her brother were on the way, leaving their sister to take care of family properties. On the way, they were stranded in Egypt for several months where she had an opportunity to spend time with her aunt/uncle/cousins there. But soon they were on the way to the US.

Soon they arrived in the US and they were off to live in the Midwest of the USA. There she and her brother stayed with Theo Chris and learned to live the American lifestyle, but her child-like spirit was always evident. Within a few years she met Vasili (Bill) Sogas and settled down in the suburbs of Kansas City and raised 3 kids. She loved the outdoors and was always gardening, raising many kinds of fruits and vegetables and lots of flowers. She was also an excellent baker, well known in the community for making some of the best flaounes, kourabiedes, loukoumades, koulourakia and various breads. But the most important thing for mom was family and the kids. She gave her all for the kids and her every thought was to them. She had even said she would have liked to have more! She was always very active at church through Philoptochos and other groups and could always be counted on to help prepare for the annual festival. She was very proud of her Cypriot heritage but was very happy to call Kansas City home.

She is survived by her daughter Virginia (Tom), and two sons, Dimitrios "Jim" (Angela) and Chris, and two grandchildren, Alexander and Arianna.