Priscilla Anne Poolos

Priscilla Anne Poolos (nee Tsivitse), 86 years of age, wife of Pete Nick Poolos, Jr. (1933-2025), mother of Nicholas Pete, Mark Peter, and Elizabeth Alexandra; grandmother of Zoe, Pete, Olivia, Jack, and Melania; and great-grandmother of Kellen. She was born in Jamestown, New York to Peter and Constance Tsivitse. Following graduation from high school in Jamestown, she moved to Cleveland to attend the Mt. Sinai School of Nursing, receiving her RN degree. She met her husband Pete in Cleveland while she was a nursing student and he a neurosurgical resident at University Hospital in Cleveland. They were married in 1961 and had 63 happy years together until his passing in 2025.

Following the birth of their first child, Nicholas, and until after the birth of their other children Mark and Alexandra, Priscilla focused on child rearing and making the family home in Lakewood, Ohio. She later returned to her nursing career as a critical care nurse at Fairview General Hospital. She was most proud of this phase of her working life, dedicating herself to the challenge of taking care of seriously ill patients and their families. In the 1980s, Pete asked her to join his newly founded solo surgical practice at Fairview, acting as an office nurse but also attending to his patients who were hospitalized for surgery. Pete attributed much of his success as a solo surgeon to Priscilla’s management of his patients, allowing him to focus on being in the operating room. Their patients were endlessly grateful for Priscilla’s hands-on care. She retired from nursing around the time he retired from practice at his age of 80.

Priscilla was a dedicated and loving mother and grandmother. In her younger years she was an avid tennis player and jogger. She collected antiques, Persian rugs, pre-Columbian antiquities, and art. Any trip to a city to visit her children, whether New York, Palo Alto, or Seattle, or internationally to Rome, Paris, or Turkey, was an opportunity to seek out new pieces for her collection. And she was a fearsome negotiator who always left with a bargain.

In the last year of her life, Priscilla fulfilled her lifelong dream of living in New York City. She took advantage of all Manhattan had to offer, going on daily excursions and attending the U.S. Open, Broadway plays, Sotheby’s auctions, watching the NY Marathon, and making many new close friendships including Lugen, Alexandra and Bill.

Priscilla was widely known for her sense of compassion, her sharp intellect, her sense of humor and her effusive nature. She was deeply loving and encouraging to all who knew her, and it was not uncommon to hear her friends say she always showed up in their times of need. Her joyful and loving personality will be profoundly missed by all who knew her.

A viewing will be held at Corrigan Craciun Funeral Home, 23040 Center Ridge Rd, Westlake, OH 44145 on Friday, August 7th, 9-11 a.m. All are welcome to attend. A private burial ceremony will follow.