Theodora Hondros Xanthos
July 21, 2024
OLNEY, MD- Theodora Hondros Xanthos died peacefully on Sunday, July 21, 2024, from pneumonia. She was 97 years old.
Theodora (which she always explained to people means “Gift from God”) was always called “Lola” by her friends and family. She was born in Clinton, NC to Charles Spiro Hondros and Maria Zaharopoulou, both proud immigrants from Greece. She always considered North Carolina home and lived there for most of her early life as well as her later years. Unfortunately, her family moved back to Greece during World War II, and she had unpleasant memories of those years. Lola also tragically lost many of her closest family members at a young age, which had a deep impact on her. Her older sister, Katina, died from a drowning accident at age 13. Her older brother, John, died from a car accident at age 27. Finally, both of her parents died at the age of 43 from natural causes. This left Lola responsible for the upbringing of her younger sister, Nickie (age 15), and younger brother, Spiro (age 11), at the ripe old age of 16. The three children were taken in and nurtured by their Aunt and Uncle, Helen and Pete Compos. She also had another Aunt and Uncle who were very impactful in her life, Efrosini and Stephen Pantagis.
Lola married the love of her life, Arthur D. Xanthos, in 1952 and they remained married until his death in 1991. They had three children: Maria born in 1955, Joanna born in 1958, and Jim born in 1961. Because of Arthur’s job at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, they raised their kids in Ohio, but both Lola and Arthur never lost their love for North Carolina. Immediately after Jim graduated high school, they moved to Charlotte, NC to retire. This enabled a reunion of sorts for Lola with her beloved brother and sister, Spiro and Nickie, as they all lived within a few miles of each other in Charlotte for almost 40 years!
Lola’s most important trait was her incredible self-sacrifice. She always cared about other people, and more importantly, always put her concern for others above her own needs. Lola was a nurturer, and the most significant example of this was her life-long commitment to caring for her beloved daughter, Joanna. She was an unbelievable wife and mother. Lola cared deeply for all of her children, but she knew that Joanna needed extra help. She was concerned about her even during her last days at the hospital.
Lola was also an incredible gardener and chef. Her garden was the talk of the neighborhood and included all varieties of flowers as well as a cornucopia of vegetables. Those vegetables were put to good use in all sorts of wonderful Greek recipes, both entrees and desserts. Her cooking was simply unbeatable.
Lola is survived by her children, Maria, Joanna, and Jim and his wife, Jenny and her grandchildren, Christopher, Sophia, Thomas, and Lola. She also is survived by her beloved sister and closest friend, Nickie Kleto, and her children and their families, Sam Kleto and his wife, Maria Kleto and John Kleto and his wife, Maria, and Pete Kleto and his wife, Susan; her caring brother, Spiro Hondros and his wife, Barbara Hondros, and their daugher, Maria and her husband, David Nelson. She was preceded in death by Nickie's husband, Tom Kleto and Spiro’s son, Charles Hondros. There are additional generations of relatives, all of whom she deeply loved and cared about.
Funeral Services will be held at Noon on Saturday, July 27, 2024, at St. Nektarios Greek Orthodox Church. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service at the church. Interment will follow at Sharon Memorial Park.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be offered in memory of Lola to St. Nektarios Greek Orthodox Church, 5108 Kuykendall Road, Charlotte, NC 28270.
May Her Memory Be Eternal.
Arrangements are in the care of Kenneth W. Poe Funeral & Cremation Service, 1321 Berkeley Ave., Charlotte, NC 28204; (704) 641-7606. Online condolences may be shared at www.kennethpoeservices.com.
Comments
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Our mother, Theodora Xanthos, went to her heavenly home on the morning of Sunday, July 21st.
She joins her husband Arthur, her parents, Maria and Charles, brother John, sister Katina, aunts Helen and Effie, and nephew Charlie.
We here on Earth to celebrate her life are son James, daughters Joanna and Maria, daughter-in-law Jenny, grandchildren Christopher, Sophia, Thomas and Lola. She also leaves a brother, Spiro, a sister, Nickie and loving cousins, nieces and nephews.
Theodora’s life on Earth was unique for a child during the 1920s and 1930s. Her childhood home in Clinton, North Carolina was a “piece of Greece”. The language, food, music and traditions were from the Greek heritage of her parents. Her brother, John, and sister Katina were also her friends and playmates.
At bedtime, she would listen to the songs and watch the joyous dancing of the “holy rollers” church on their street, before going to sleep.
The children of the small Greek community would play together when Theodora’s family visited Wilmington, North Carolina between 1927-1933. The Pantagis and Xanthos families’ children would partake in the adventures.
Theodora instigated jumping on the back of the ice truck to gather ice chips only to fall off into the street. Then, Arthur Xanthos would gather the children for ghost stories, knowing that Katina would be the most scared of the group.
Following Katina’s death at age 13, Yia Yia Maria moved with Theodora, Nickie and Spiro to her childhood hometown, Mikro Chorio, Greece, in the state of Evrytania. The family lived there until 1946, surviving the Second World War. Mother Maria and Father Charles both died in Greece before 1946 due to illness. Theodora then booked passage to America on the Andrea Doria for the three of them. After their arrival in New York, they met their Aunt Helen and Uncle Pete and traveled to their permanent home in Wilmington, NC.
The post-war years were good to Theodora. She married her childhood acquaintance, Arthur Xanthos, and moved to Ohio. By the year 1962, they had been married 10 years and had their three children.
In 1980, the family relocated to Charlotte, North Carolina, where Theodora and Arthur lived happily. Theodora decorated her home as an interior designer would have. She was a great cook, an immaculate housekeeper, landscaper and gardener. She kept a large vegetable garden for 35 years and supplied her family and neighbors with fresh, delicious vegetables. “The Vegetable Lady” gradually cut back her crops to three items: tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers.
Arthur passed away in 1990 but Theodora continued to live in their home until 2018.
Theodora moved to Maryland to live with Jim and his family in 2018. She lived and enjoyed good health through 2023. She entered assisted living in April, 2024. She passed away to eternal life and she is going to be looking for a vegetable patch! -
Dear Mom,
Thank you for all the love that you gave me.
Thank you for all the good deeds that you did for me.
I am sorry that we would fight sometimes, but we always made up, and I always loved you.
I really enjoyed all the good food that you made for me, and I enjoyed all the good times that we had together.
I am going to miss you dearly.
You are a wonderful person, and I hope that you have peace in Heaven.
Love,
Joanna -
My grandma was and forever will be the BEST GRANDMA EVER!!!!
I am so glad I captured so many memories with her before she passed away. I will forever look back at those and think of the amount of good memories I have with her. I will forever remember her and remember how sweet and kind she was to me and everyone else. As a kid, I remember having such a fun time at her house that felt like my second home. She played dolls, read to me, and watched TV with me to keep me entertained. She did everything she could to make sure I had a good stay at her house.
My grandma was truly the sweetest woman I knew and it always made me happy just to see her. One thing that I will forever cherish is her smile. I think the smile that my grandma had was the prettiest smile I have ever seen. As I look back at old videos of the two of us together, I realized that she had the prettiest smile, warmest heart, and was joyful to everybody around her. I honestly do not remember any bad times with my grandma. She made me the happiest as a kid and the last times I saw her. My grandma looked amazing at her age and was always a pretty woman.
One thing I remember about my grandma was that she loved kids, and would always light up whenever she saw them. Of course, the kids always loved her since she was super sweet to them and always tried to make them smile. She did the same to me and my brother. I hope that she is still smiling up in Heaven and watching down on me and my family.
Love,
Lola (your twinsie) -
Theodora was my grandmother, and I loved her very much. She was very caring, and as a young child, was always able to put a smile on my face. I hope she finds peace in heaven.
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This is my favorite photo of me and my Mother-in-law.
Sadly our Wonderwoman, my mother in law passed away last Sunday, July 21st, 2024. She was 97 years old.
My mother in law was a mom to me. She treated me like her own from the first time we met until the end. She was an amazing woman and the sweetest. She was kind and she cared deeply about others.
Though you are no longer with us, your memory will forever remain in our hearts ♥️ -
How blessed are we today. This amazing woman and her siblings survived and overcame the loss of their parents, the horrors of world war 2 and the brutal Greek civil war. She and her siblings didn’t allow their childhood horrors to stop them from living the American Dream. As inspirational a journey as I’ve ever read. May her memory be eternal.
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Hi Mom,
You slipped away from us so quickly, that I never had the chance to say goodbye, so here it goes.
My main message is "Thank you."
Thank you for caring about your kids and your husband more than you even cared about yourself. You were always there to nurture and care for us, and we really appreciated everything you did.
Thank you for teaching us to care about others, especially those who needed a little extra help. You taught not only with words, but more importantly with deeds.
Thank you for encouraging us to follow our dreams and always to think big. I would not be the person I am today without all the encouragement that you provided.
Finally, thank you for being the nicest person in the world. It is seldom that you find someone that is so beloved by everyone, but you were the rare exception.
In closing, I just want to tell you the same thing that I whispered to you every night during the six years that you graced our home at the end of your wonderful life -
"BEST MOM EVER"
I love you.
Your Son,
Jim -
No reason for tears, if you believe she just went home. May she rest in peace
Dianne
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