Antigone (Georgiades) Simollardes, 92, of Worcester died peacefully in her sleep on May 3rd at Holy Trinity Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Worcester.
She was the wife of the late Odhise (Odysseus) Simollardes, a local restaurateur who died in 1983, and lived an eventful life that took her from northern Greece to Worcester and beyond.
Mrs. Simollardes leaves three sons, Anthony John Simollardes and his wife, Sheila, of Harvard; Chris Paul Simollardes and his wife, Bette, of Sudbury; and Dr. James Steven Simollardes and his wife, Eileen, of Milton, VT; along with six grandchildren (Alexis, Andrew, Christina, Nicholas, Kelly and Steven) and two great granddaughters, Sophia Antigone and Audrey Ruth, recently born to granddaughter Alexis and her husband, Parks; as well as many nieces and nephews. She is survived by her two sisters, Helen (Nitsa) Chagaris of Stamford, CT, and Thalia Drizis of Thessaloniki, Greece.
She was born on January 27, 1920 in Kavala, Macedonia, Greece, the eldest daughter of six children of Leonidas and Constandina (Karchenes) Georgiades. An older brother, Agathokles, and a younger brother, Vasilios, predeceased her in infancy; as well as her sister Koula Karameli, who died in 1986 in Greece. Coming to America after WWII, she married U.S. Army veteran Odhise Simollardes on September 7, 1947. She lived in Worcester during her entire time in the United States and travelled to Greece several times and to the Holy Lands.
Growing up in pre-WWII Greece, Mrs. Simollardes was considered both a child prodigy who could read at the age of three and a talented and beautiful young woman whose photos appeared on annual calendars in Kavala when she was a young girl as the image of Spring and were published elsewhere.. She volunteered in her early 20’s with Greek armed forces organizations during the war in taking care packages to the front in the fighting against the Axis powers, and also worked as a civil defense volunteer.
She was a linguist speaking her native Greek tongue, also Classical Greek, Albanian and also French, as well as her adopted language of English. One of her WWII diaries, alluding to tragedy and lost loves, was written by her in French (to keep from her mother’s eyes) and is in the process of being translated. Her blonde, blue eyed beauty had many suitors asking for her hand in marriage. The tragedy of losing a secret love during the war left her forlorn and looking for a new life of opportunity and challenge in America.
She was sponsored by her cousin Arthur Karchenes, a Massachusetts florist, to come and meet and possibly marry his wife’s brother, Odhise, a sergeant who had recently returned from duty in the Philippines. She was proud to be a U.S. citizen, as well as of her Greek origins, and rapidly became fluent in English as she started night school in Worcester immediately upon her arrival, quickly earning a U.S. GED. She and her husband made their home at 402 Lovell St., Worcester, and subsequently Mrs. Simollardes moved to the Highland House on Pleasant Street a number of years after her husband’s death.
She was a sweet and loving grandmother. She was interested and engaged in the political discourse of the day, an avid Democrat. She had a good head for math and finance, and to everyone’s surprise she discovered an error in interest calculations that had been overlooked by accountants, lawyers and bankers in one of her husband’s restaurant purchase agreements.
Mrs. Simollardes was a very active member of the St. Spyridon Greek Orthodox Cathedral of Worcester, and an active participant in many of its groups, including the Ladies Philopticos Society, The Daughters of Penelope, The Mother’s Guild, and in her later years, The Office Angels. Until recently, some of her happiest times at the church were spent helping with The Grecian Festival bake shop. Many of the traditional Greek cuisine dishes for her family were her specialty and she contributed several of her favorite recipes to the Grecian Festival Cookbooks over the years. They were some of the most sought after recipes among her extended family and community, especially her amazing filo dough confections and dishes with people always coming back for seconds and thirds.
She will be dearly missed by all who knew her. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her memory to the Holy Trinity Nursing and Rehabilitation Center at 300 Barber Ave., Worcester or Saint Spyridon Cathedral, 102 Russell St., Worcester.
Calling hours at The O’Connor Brothers Funeral Home, 592 Park Ave., Worcester will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Sunday May 6. Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Monday May 7 at Saint Spyridon Greek Orthodox Cathedral, 102 Russell St., Worcester. Burial will be at Hope Cemetery following the service with her final resting place next to the love of her life, Odysseus.