Sophia was born in Leptokarya, Macedonia/Greece on January 12, 1931, to Anastasios and Melpomenis Stergiathou. In 1951, at the age of 20, Sophia immigrated to America along with her husband, arriving by ship to Ellis Island with nothing but her hopes, dreams, and, her father’s words echoing in her mind … “Don’t look back”. Leaving behind her homeland and family she never lost the love and appreciation for her Macedonian heritage while working tirelessly to build a new life and eventually becoming a proud American citizen. Her resilience and work ethic were evident in everything she did as she persevered in the face of many challenges.
Sophia’s highest value in life was her family and the Lord blessed her with three children, five grandchildren, and seven great grandchildren who she dedicated her life to and whom she loved to feed and have fun with.
Zelnik, Chicken and Rice, Baba Salad, Scrambled Eggs with Feta Cheese, Butterball Cookies, Kiffles, and Popcorn were some of her family’s favorites. Whether you were a family member, an invited or impromptu guest, you never left her home hungry. If you ate some, you had to eat more, no questions asked!! Often times after eating, it was a good possibility that you would enjoy a rousing game of Crazy Eights or UNO.
Sophia was passionate about gardening. She had an amazing green thumb for nurturing vegetables, flowers, and of course, trees (lots of trees)!!!!!!!! She found peace and joy gardening, most likely a reminder of her homeland and life prior to coming to America. There was nowhere she felt more at home than when she was outside surrounded by nature; whether tending to her plants, feeding the birds or other animals, mowing the lawn, shoveling snow, digging the earth, and of course, planting her trees.
She also enjoyed being on a Bowling Team with her friends from Therm-O-Disc. After retirement, Sophia could be spotted riding to and from McDonald’s in the back seat of the “Macedonian Mafia Mobile”, a black Cadillac, with her sunglasses on, looking COOL.
Sophia is survived by her children, Elena Nickolaou Jackson, Cathy (Jim) Mastin, and George (Laurie) Nickolaou; grandchildren, Gabriel, Joy (Nick), Daniel (Ali), Jed (Jenna), and Anthony; great-grandchildren Sophie, Zoe, Adrian, Avery, Joel, Maci and Maverick.
Sophia was preceded in death by her parents, five sisters and one brother, her son-in-law, Ed Jackson, and grand fur babies, King Tut, and Prince Neapolitan, aka Neo.
Family and friends are invited to Visitation on Thursday, January 8, 2026, from 4:00PM – 6:00PM, Prayer Service at 5:30PM, at Wappner Funeral Directors, 98 S. Diamond Street, Mansfield, OH 44902.
