Obituary of Julia Vlachos

Julia Eva Vlachos Reposed in the Lord on Sunday, July 20, 2014 at the age of nearly 102. The Viewing will be on Thursday, July 24, 2014 from 6:00 to 8:00pm and the Trisagion at 7:00pm at Angel Valley Funeral Home, located at 2545 North Tucson Blvd., Tucson, AZ. The Funeral will be held at St Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church on Friday, July 25, 2014 at 10:00am, located at 1145 East Fort Lowell Road, Tucson, AZ. The Mercy Meal will follow at the Church following the interment at Evergreen Cemetery. Julia Vlachos was born in Chicago, Illinois on August 10, 1912 to her parents George & Evangelia Psiris. Both of her parents were from the village of Verena in Greece. Julia grew up in the city of Chicago until the age of 3 when her father moved the family of 4 boys and 3 girls to Indiana in order to pursue farming. Julia's father was very successful as a farmer but her mother wanted the children to grow up learning the Greek language and the family eventually moved back to Chicago. Once back in Chicago Julia was taught the Greek language by a woman that was a close family friend. Julia grew up as a parishioner of St. Constantine Greek Orthodox Church and has fond memories of dancing at the church every Saturday night as a teenager. She was also a member of the Philoptochos and the Daughters of Penelope while living in Chicago. Julia went on to marry her husband Arthur Vlachos at St. Constantine Greek Orthodox Church and was married for 10 years until Arthur passed away. After the loss of her husband, Julia experienced great sadness, but she was cared for and loved by her sister Rose. Julia started her first job at the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company at the age of 16. She was very successful with Metropolitan Life, working hard and eventually managing 8 office people that supported 40 salesmen. At the age of 65, Julia retired from the company. Julia finished her career with 49 years with the same company. Throughout her career and retirement, Julia loved to travel, going to Europe three times and cruising the South Pacific Seas. When not traveling to Europe Julia would visit her sister Barbara who had moved to Tucson in order to treat her TB. Eventually her other sister Rose along with her husband Clarence retired to Tucson. After Julia's 2 sisters had moved to Tucson, Julia eventually followed them and made Tucson her personal home during the 90's. Once in Tucson, Julia enjoyed her retirement by going to lunch with her sisters and brother in law and others from the church. As Rose's health started to fail, Rose told Clarence to look after her two sisters. Julia says "Clarence took care of her and treated all the girls in the family like queens" Julia's brother in law Clarence and sister Rose Drake were great stewards of the church. They both loved the church very much and were very involved. When Clarence retired from the US Air Force, he and his wife moved to Tucson to be close to Rose's sister Barbara. Once in Tucson Clarence served as president of the community and president of the AHEPA. He was also an Archon of the church. After Rose's death, Clarence donated the funds to build the youth center and Sunday school rooms, which are named in their memory. Julia generously donated her home to St Demetrios Church and is a member of the LEGACY SOCIETY. May her memory be eternal! God Bless her!