Thean Pelecanos

Thean Kanakaredes Pelecanos, 90, passed away November 2, 2024, peacefully, surrounded by her loving family.

Thean was the beloved wife of Nicholas T. Pelecanos for 52 years, devoted mother of Lydia Sweeney (Timothy) and Eleni Pelecanos-Matts (Joseph), loving Yiayia of Nicholas and Fiona Sweeney and Joe, Sophie and Victor Matts. Cherished daughter of Cornelia (nee Drakos) and Nicholas Kanakaredes, dearest sister of the late Harry Kanakaredes (Connie), and fond Thea to many nieces and nephews.

She will be remembered by those who knew and loved her as a woman who blended devotion to family and community with her enduring passion for education and travel.

Born July 31, 1934, in Akron, Ohio, Thean grew up in a traditional Greek American home. Her parents, both immigrants, instilled in her the importance of maintaining connections with their Greek community in Akron and family in the US and Greece which she did throughout her life. Through letters sent during WWII and a family journey to Greece afterward, she began to nurture close ties with her overseas relatives. She attended Northwestern University in Chicago where she studied French and Spanish and after graduating, was a Fulbright scholar at the Sorbonne University in Paris. During this time, she travelled extensively through Europe - an amazing feat for an independent young woman in the 1950's. In1957, Thean met and married Nicholas (Niko) Pelecanos. She then completed her masters degree in French Literature and education at Western Reserve University.

Thean and Niko lovingly raised 2 daughters, Lydia and Eleni. She was devoted to and masterfully juggled her many roles as a mother, wife, teacher, and managed her physician husband's office for the many years he practiced surgery in northeast Ohio.

With a talent and passion for languages, Thean studied many and was fluent in four. She enjoyed a rewarding career teaching French at both the high school and college level. After retirement, she could often be found teaching French and Greek at her dining room table to a group of energetic grandchildren or family friends. She also was an active member of several local language and cultural associations.

Nurturing family and ethnic connections were a major theme of Thean's life. She successfully maintained close relationships with both her own and Niko's families in the US and overseas. Because of this, their daughters grew up with close ties to many relatives in the US, Greece and Australia. Thean and her brother, Harry, were instrumental in maintaining connections among the descendants of immigrants from their parents' ancestral home in Asia Minor. She compiled the member newsletter and helped organize many biannual reunions of the Aretsou Association of America.

As a long time member of Sts. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church community, she enthusiastically played a major role in the library committee and participated in many religious and cultural events.

Thean's travels in Europe as a young woman ignited a lifelong passion for exploration of new places and cultures with an open mind. She made many journeys over the years and shared her passion with her family taking her daughters and grandchildren on many memorable trips. Even in her later years, she visited Greece, France, Spain, Puerto Rico and Australia all after age 75.

Thean's greatest priority was always her children. Once Lydia and Eleni started families of their own, Thean and Niko readily decided to move nearby to be active nurturing grandparents. All 5 grandchildren fondly remember, in particular, her warm hugs, open heart, enduring patience, and, of course, her delicious avgolemono soup.

In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Thean may be made to Sts. Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Cathedral Memorial Fund, 3352 Mayfield Rd., Cleveland Heights, OH 44118; or to Hospice of the Western Reserve, P.O. Box 72101, Cleveland, OH 44192; or to a charity of your choice.

Funeral Services will be held at 10 AM Saturday, November 23, 2024, at Sts Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Cathedral, Rev. Fr. Stephen Callos, officiating. This will be preceded by a visitation prior to the service from 9-10 AM at the church. Burial will follow at Lake View Cemetery.

 Arrangements entrusted to THE DeJOHN-FLYNN-MYLOTT FUNERAL HOME OF SOUTH EUCLID.