Georgia Fassos, nee Kazaklis, always had homemade koulourakia for her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, baking the braided Greek cookies by the dozen in the basement oven of her Lincoln Square three-flat.
The sweets were one of the many ways the matriarch kept her extended family in Chicago connected to the culture and traditions of their ancestral homeland. Born in 1928 in the village of Achladokampos, Greece, Fassos was one of eight siblings, six of whom lived past infancy. They shared a three-room house in the mountains, farming wheat, corn and olives. The children slept on the floor; as a little girl, Fassos would only fall asleep once her hand was resting on the neck of her older sister.
After surviving German occupation during World War II and the Greek Civil War, Fassos came to the U.S. as a refugee at 23, where she worked as a nanny and a seamstress. Wearing a borrowed white satin bridal gown, she married George Fassos on Sept. 28, 1952. The newlyweds spoke little English yet loved going to the movies, Western films in particular.
“But we don’t know what they’re saying,” the wife would sometimes protest.
“So? We’ll look at the pictures,” her husband responded, laughing.
The couple would go on to sponsor the immigration of 18 family members, helping them resettle in the Chicago area. Although Fassos loved being an American, she never forgot her roots: For six decades, she was a member of the Ladies Society of Achladokampos. Her kourambiethes were a staple at church festivals and the sweet tables of family baptisms. Everyone looked forward to her vasilopita on New Year’s Day in the hopes their slice of bread would have the lucky coin. She’d bring homemade yogurt and hilopites covered in mizithra cheese whenever you were sick, pregnant or just hungry. Please return the Tupperware.
Fassos was loving yet could be tough. At the church following one granddaughter’s wedding, she went to embrace the groom. Just before kissing the young man on the cheek, she pulled him close and whispered, “I love you,” but if you hurt her, “tha se skotoso.” (I will kill you.)
This strength and fierce loyalty are what family and friends will miss most about Fassos, after she died at 95 on Oct. 25, 2023. Devoted wife of the late George Fassos. Proud mother of Panagiota “Pat” Fassos. Loving “yiayia” to Evangeline, James and Calli Leventis after their grandmother – her older sister – died before they were born. Fond aunt of many nieces and nephews here and in Greece.
Family and friends will gather Saturday for a 10 a.m. visitation and 11 a.m. funeral service at St. George Greek Orthodox Church, 2701 N. Sheffield Ave. in Chicago. Interment following at Elmwood Cemetery in River Grove. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions to St. George Greek Orthodox Church-Consecration Fund appreciated. Arrangements by Memory Eternal Funeral Directors, Ltd. (847) 375-0095.
May her memory be eternal.