Venus Salas Zambounis passed away peacefully Friday at home. She was 89 years old. She was born in Savannah, Georgia in 1928, the youngest of three children of R.A. Salas and Irene Andris Salas, immigrants from Greece. Her father was from the Peloponnese and her mother was from Mytilene on the island of Lesvos.
Growing up in Savannah, she was educated in the public schools there and was active in St. Paul’s Greek Orthodox Church, teaching Sunday school and singing in the choir. She also began a secretarial career in Savannah before moving to Atlanta to work. While in Atlanta she became involved in the Greek community here for the first time, once again teaching Sunday school and singing in the choir. She moved to Boston on a whim where she became friends with the family of the future governor of Massachusetts and presidential candidate, Michael Dukakis. Returning to Atlanta she worked for many years for the institution then known as Trust Company Bank. She was particularly proud, though, of starting and running her own secretarial business for many years.
In 1985 she married the love of her life and husband for over 31 years, the artist and graphic designer James Zambounis. Together they were active in the affairs of the Greek community in Atlanta, including the American Foundation for Hellenic Studies and the Greek Ladies Philoptochos Society. In 2007 they retired to Sun City, South Carolina but, missing their friends and community, they returned to Atlanta in late 2016.
Venus Zambounis was predeceased by her husband and her brother Tassie, a Savannah restaurateur, in 2017. She is survived by her sister Helen Andris Christopher of Savannah.
A prayer Service for Mrs. Zambounis will be held Tuesday evening, March 27, at 6:00 p.m. at H.M. Patterson & Sons Oglethorpe Hill. The family will receive friends from 5:00 to 7:00. Funeral services will be held at the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation, Atlanta, at 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 28, interment to follow at Arlington Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Greek Ladies Philoptochos Society.
SHARE OBITUARY
v.1.8.18