Maria Mangopoulos

Maria Mangopoulos (affectionately our Yia Yia) was born in 1933 in Proti, Florina, Greece. She was the daughter of Father Christos and Margarita Sianos. She grew up in the Church and was devout in her Greek Orthodox faith in Jesus Christ.

In her young life she enjoyed spending time at her Papou Theodore’s home and large orchard of apples, peaches and plums. Her life abruptly changed at age 11, when Nazi soldiers invaded her village and executed her father, along with many other civilian men of the village. Her childhood home was burnt to the ground as the family fled. Her mother was left to raise Yia Yia and her eight siblings. They lived in a barn for about two years while their humble home was rebuilt.

At 18, she married the first and only love of her life, Stavros Mangopoulos. A year later, in 1952, a daughter, Fanitsa, was born followed by a son, Nicholas, who was born in 1954. Stavros alone left for America in 1956 to establish a home for his family. Four years later the family was reunited in Michigan. A second son, John, was born in 1962.

Yia Yia cooked, baked, sewed, knitted and maintained the household while Stavros worked at GM. The entirety of her life consisted of devotion to the Church and serving her husband, children, and grandchildren. After the 65th anniversary of her marriage, when Stavros's health fell into decline, she stayed at his bedside every single day for 11 months, unwavering in her devotion until his death in 2018.

Concurrently, Yia Yia was diagnosed with vascular dementia, robbing her of the ability to care for her loved ones as she always had. In her last days she enjoyed being with her family, looking at pictures of family, friends and of Greece. She never complained about the incredible devastation that she survived in Greece and was positive, content, and grateful for her blessings to the very end.

Nearly every picture we have of Yia Yia is next to her husband or children, holding a baby, or in her kitchen, which speaks volumes of the heart of this beautiful person. RIP Yia Yia. She has left us a legacy of sweetness, devotion and true Christian love. May her memory be eternal.

A triasgion service for Maria will be held Monday, September 20, 2021 from 9:30 AM to 9:45 AM at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox, 1701 E. Saginaw St, Lansing, Michigan. A visitation will occur Monday, September 20, 2021 from 9:45 AM to 11:00 AM, 1701 E. Saginaw St, Lansing, Michigan. A funeral service will occur Monday, September 20, 2021 at 11:00 AM, 1701 E. Saginaw St, Lansing, Michigan.

Serving as pallbearers are Christopher Mangopoulos, Stephen Mangopoulos, Nicholas Mangopoulos, Michael Mitchell, Vasilios Angelopoulos and Ryan McCullough.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.greastlansing.com for the Mangopoulos family.