Bessie Kundanis

Bessie Kundanis died December 18, 2011, at Genesis in Keene at age 88. She bravely fought depression and blindness for many years. She lived in Keene for six years after moving here to be with her daughter Rose and her family.

Until recently, Bessie lived in Chicago. In high school, Bessie won a contest as a comptometer operator; the comptometer is a mechanical calculator. She corresponded with her friend Bertha’s brother Ulysses Kundanis and married him when he returned from the Pacific after World War II. She worked with her husband’s commercial photography business in Chicago, and she raised three children. She worked a variety of jobs, retiring from Zenith in Chicago. She took care of her husband who had Alzheimer’s.

Bessie was active in her church in Chicago, The Assumption Greek Orthodox Church. She enjoyed films, puzzles and trivia. She cheered her beloved Chicago Cubs for most of her life. While living at Prospect Place in Keene, she found the Red Sox a comparable substitute. She loved being with her family and her three grandchildren.

Bessie was fluent in Greek and loved her heritage, fulfilling a lifelong wish to travel to Greece with her husband of 52 years.

Bessie is survived by her son George Kundanis and his partner Karen Lightfoot of Washington, D.C.; her daughter Barbara Kundanis and son-in-law Barton Grow of Boulder, Colorado; her daughter Rose Kundanis and son-in-law John Bordenet of Keene; her granddaughter Zoe Bordenet, grandson Nathaniel Kundanis-Grow, and granddaughter Esme Kundanis-Grow. Her husband Ulysses died in 1998. Her sister Georgia Mitchell and brothers Nicholas and Peter Kouzios died earlier.

Salerno’s Funeral Home in Chicago, Illinois, is arranging the services.