Helen J. Klissas

Helen J. Klissas

Ελενη Παναγιωτα Κλεισα

May 13, 1931 – November 4, 2024

 With a life spanning 93 remarkable years, our remarkable mother, Helen J. Klissas, passed away at Stony Brook University Hospital following a brief hospitalization. A devoted wife and mother, she was a cornerstone of her church community since its founding in 1959. Her life was filled with joys and challenges, each of which she faced with unwavering strength and grace.

Helen was born and raised in South Ozone Park, Queens, New York, to immigrant parents from Messenia in the Peloponnese. Her father, Constantinos, originally from Kalamata, ran a bustling coffee shop on Woodhaven Boulevard, a cherished gathering place in the community. Her mother, Maria, hailed from Gargalianoi and was deeply admired for her piety and gentle spirit by all who knew her. Helen often reminisced about summers spent in Blairstown, New Jersey, alongside her older brother, Teddy, her baby sister Catherine, and a close-knit circle of cousins. Those days held a special place in her heart and became treasured family memories.

In 1941, tragedy struck when her own beloved mother passed away from high blood pressure—a condition easily treatable today. Helen recounted the heart-wrenching memory of her last glimpse of her mother, gazing up from the street at her hospital window. To support his fledgling family, her father was remarried to Cleo (Κλεανθη), a resilient refugee from Smyrna, Asia Minor. Protective and devoted, Cleo became a steadfast influence in her life, often taking the children on outings to Delancey Street for shopping and to the movies. Upon graduating high school, Helen began her first job at Dun & Bradstreet in Manhattan, where she thrived. When her father’s coffee shop closed, the family made the pivotal decision to move to Nesconset, where they had built a home on five acres, setting the stage for the next chapter of her life.

Here Helen quickly found work at Kings Park Hospital, joining her sister, and before long she saved enough to buy her own car. Spiros Markoulis, a close family friend and a self-appointed matchmaker, volunteered to teach her to drive. Ever playful, he teased both sisters, saying one of them was bound to marry his nephew Stamati, who would soon be visiting from Greece. Helen laughed, insisting her sister Catherine was the “lucky one.” One morning, during a routine trip to the A&P for groceries, Cleo seized the opportunity. She took the wheel and drove Helen straight to Uncle Spiro’s house, determined to introduce her to Stamati. Spiro’s wife, Lula, answered the door and informed them Stamati was still sleeping after his overnight shift at the Smithtown Diner – a break from his usual duties at sea. Undeterred, Cleo insisted he be woken up immediately!

After the initial, somewhat awkward introductions, Cleo quickly assessed the young man’s suitability. She even calculated their combined salaries on the spot and announced it was enough to manage a household—and that she would even contribute her own furniture! Helen would later recall, with a smile, how she had wished she could have melted into the floor from sheer embarrassment! 

As fate may have it, the two grew close, fell in love, and were married, with Jimmy and Anna Stavrides as the κουμπαροι. They rented an apartment in Saint James, where their family began to grow. Denise (Δέσποινα) was born in 1958, and Nicholas (Nick) followed a year later. As the new county road to Port Jefferson opened, Stamati found work at Chris’s Diner in Port Jefferson Station. With their expanding family, they needed more living space. A house-hunting trip with the new Greek priest led them to a two-story, two-family house on North Country Road in Port Jefferson Village. Sealing the deal, the priest agreed to rent the upstairs apartment, becoming their first tenant and the first of series of Greek priests living above them. It was the start of a lively, welcoming household. In 1964, Stamati’s mother, Γιαγιά Δέσποινα, arrived by ship from Piraeus, prompting another move into a larger home in beautiful Port Jefferson Station. Around this time, Stamati went into business, opening the Sunrise Charcoal Restaurant in Patchogue, where he worked tirelessly. And yet, on Monday nights, he and Helen would regularly venture to Astoria to enjoy a meal and a Greek film—a cherished weekly escape.

As the years passed, Helen focused her energy on two family members who began to require special care. Denise who had been born with special needs, and soon after, Helen’s stepmother who had suffered a stroke, remaining homebound at her Nesconset house. Helen and her sister Catherine devoted themselves to daily care for Cleo until her passing in 1986. In 1970, an anticipated addition to the family—a baby girl to be named Maria in honor of Helen’s mother—was stillborn. This new unexpected loss cast a lasting shadow on Helen’s heart, her grief often unspoken but deeply felt for years to come. Through all these joys and hardships, she remained resilient, holding her family close and her memories even closer.

With remarkable positivity, Helen carried on, eventually returning to work at the newly established IRS Service Center in Holtsville. She loved her role as a Tax Examiner and remained dedicated to her work there until her retirement in 2002. Beyond her professional life, she was deeply involved in her church community, serving on the parish council and cherishing milestones such as the consecration of the church by Archbishop Iakovos and Father John Argyros. After the family business was sold, the family embarked on their first trip to Greece in the summer of 1975 together —a journey that became the first of many. There, she joyfully connected with relatives she had heard about but never met, especially bonding with family in Kalamata. Helen enjoyed hosting legendary dinner parties, gathering friends for card games, and serving her famous Pina Coladas. Summers were filled with family outings on the boat, waterskiing, and cooking meals on the beach just outside Port Jefferson Harbor. Her love for family, friends, and community enriched every aspect of her life, creating memories that will be treasured for years to come.

In 1994, as they were proudly preparing to visit Nick in Washington, D.C., where he worked for the State Department, another profound tragedy struck the family: Stamati suffered a stroke. Though he remained in a coma for twelve years, she kept her spirits high and showed unwavering resolve to ensure he was properly looked after. Shortly after, Helen fulfilled their shared dream of owning a home by the water, where she would reside for the rest of her days. She embraced a daily routine, lovingly preparing Denise for her day at the Developmental Disabilities Institute—a program Denise faithfully attended each day. This serene home became a sanctuary filled with devotion, resilience, but also punctuated with lovely and lively meals with new friends. Nick’s all-time favorite was her spaghetti and meatballs (made with cumin using a Smyrnaean recipe). 

In 2004, Helen welcomed a new daughter into the family when Nick married Pam in a beautiful ceremony at St. Sophia Cathedral in Washington, D.C. Just a year later, she experienced one of her greatest joys—the birth of her granddaughter and namesake - Eleni Maria. From that day forward, she lovingly referred to her as κουκλάκι, her little doll and pride and joy. Their bond made every holiday a joyful occasion filled with laughter, happiness and great food! Ever committed to her church community, Helen continued to support the Golden Age Group, often buying groceries, running the raffle, and preparing meals for their gatherings—a true testament to her generous spirit and dedication.

Helen is survived by her children, Denise and Nick, her daughter-in-law Pam Gerassimides, her treasured granddaughter Eleni Klissas, her brother Theodore Coutumas, her sister Catherine Haibon, many loving nieces and nephews, and her Godchildren Dora Abazis, Irene Markoulis, Michael Piston, and Nick Koutrakos. Her memory will live on in the hearts of her family, friends, and all who were fortunate enough to know her, as a legacy of love, resilience, and devotion.