Elaine Marie Tsakopoulos

March 16, 1940 – November 6, 2022

Elaine Marie Tsakopoulos (née Demson) was above all, a mother. Her four children, and nearly all of her nine grandchildren and four great-grandchildren were close at hand when God called her early Sunday morning, November 6, 2022. She passed with serenity after a brief illness in Sacramento, California. She was 82.

Elaine was born on March 16, 1940 in Yakima, Washington, daughter of Helen and John Demson. Elaine grew up in Yakima and graduated from Eisenhower High School in 1958. She was a member of the honors society and proudly performed piano at her high school graduation, the very first graduation ceremony at Eisenhower. Along with her sister Frances and brother John, Elaine grew up proud of her Greek heritage.

Following in the footsteps of her sister Fran, Elaine earned her teaching credential by enrolling at Yakima Junior College for two years, then heading to Ellensburg, Washington to attend Central Washington College of Education. While at Yakima JC, she was crowned homecoming queen.

On a trip to visit relatives in Sacramento, California, Elaine met and fell in love with a waiter at the Del Prado restaurant while having dinner with her family. Within a few months, she and Angelo Chicos (Tsakopoulos) were married. The young couple had four children in six years: Katina, Eleni, Athena and Kyriakos. As a loving mother who was also a trained schoolteacher, Elaine raised her children to excel. They each graduated from college, going on to achieve success in business, health services and farming. She beamed with pride when her daughter Eleni Kounalakis was elected the 50th Lieutenant Governor of California in 2018.

As a young mother, Elaine took great pride in domestic skills and homemaking. While juggling four small children, she busily worked at her sewing machine making their clothes in matching fabrics. As a cook, she eschewed recipes and was an early farm-to-fork devotee. Elaine could turn fresh-caught pheasants into delectable stews. She would hand-crush walnuts to make thousands of pieces of Greek pastries for the annual Sacramento Greek Foods Festival. As an early adopter of the Super 8 film camera, she took reels of home movies and left behind thousands of photographs of her friends and family – on ski trips and traveling the world.

Elaine lived for more than 30 years in Folsom, California. She was a regular volunteer at Mercy Hospital, a member of the parish at Santa Ana Greek Orthodox Church, an active member of her neighborhood community and an avid golfer. Watching her family grow and spending time with her grandchildren – baking, playing and crafting together - was always her most cherished activity.

Elaine is preceded in death by her parents, Helen and John Demson and her brother John. She is survived by her sister Frances Demson of Yakima, WA, her children Katina Tsakopoulos of San Diego, Eleni (Markos) Kounalakis of San Francisco, Athena Tsakopoulos of Hawaii, and Kyriakos (Brianne) Tsakopoulos of Sacramento. She is also survived by eight loving grandchildren, Alex (39), Anthony (34), Angelo, (32, Bailee), Andrew (29, Kaleigh), Antoneo (21), Evangelos (20), Alex (16), Max (14) and Angelo (8). She was deeply blessed with her great-grandchildren Lilah (4), Leonidas (2), Saylor (2) and Katerina (2 months). She also leaves behind countless nieces and nephews, many of whom streamed through to visit on her last days, her dear friend Kerry Valine and her beloved cat Toby, or “toto.”

Services will be held in Sacramento, CA and in Yakima, Washington. In Sacramento, a trisagion memorial will be held Friday November 11th at 7PM at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox church. Her funeral will take place Saturday November 12th at 10AM also at Annunciation. The Makaria will be held at The Sutter Club following funeral services at Annunciation. Elaine will be laid to rest at Terrace Heights Memorial Park Wednesday November 16th at 11AM and a celebration of life will follow.