The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
Eleni H. Bourodimos, 87, passed away peacefully at her home in Somerset on October 25.
Born in Athens, Greece, on January 9, 1937, Eleni Mantzouranis Bourodimos was the daughter of late Dionisios H. Mantzouranis and the late Angeliki Stavropoulos Mantzouranis. She was the youngest of three siblings.
She was deeply proud of her Greek heritage. Eleni had the wealth of her dynamism and her persistence for the best in the life of her family and in her education. She and her family survived World War 2 and the subsequent Greek Civil War.
She graduated from high school in Athens in 1954. After her high school graduation, she and her husband, Efstathios L. Bourodimos, had three children: Lampros, Angela, and Sonia.
On August 21, 1961, she moved to the USA with the family, to Brighton (Boston), Massachusetts, since her husband had been admitted to graduate school there. The plan was for her husband to finish his degrees in 1965, and to return to their home in Athens immediately after that.
After her husband’s graduation, he was offered positions as professor at many universities in the USA and he selected a position at Rutgers University in New Brunswick in 1966. She and her family lived in Somerset. She lived in the longtime home that she created from 1966 until her passing. She was a member of the St. George Greek Orthodox Church for 58 years.
Eleni was a dedicated homemaker and lifelong learner. In 1982, she graduated from Rutgers University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology where she was on the Dean’s List due to her excellent grades. She fluently spoke Greek, English, and French. Eleni attended the Rutgers Graduate School of Social Work for two years. During the time of her studies as Rutgers, she was a student there at the same time as her two older children, Lampros and Angela. Due to Eleni’s youthful attitude and appearance, she was regularly mistaken as a sister, rather that the mother, of her children. This led to many humorous episodes over the years. Eleni also engaged actively as a student member of the Rutgers Hellenic Cultural Association and the Rutgers University Faculty Wives’ group and enjoyed dancing in various modern dance groups.
Simultaneously to attending Rutgers, Eleni found great joy in teaching Greek, serving as a Greek School Teacher for the Greek School of the St. George Community. She taught at the Greek School for 18 years, teaching about 600 children during that time. Subsequent to her graduation from Rutgers, she assisted Father Anthony Pappas by confidentially counseling families in the St. George Community and Central New Jersey with the issues that they faced in their lives. As a volunteer counselor, she guided and assisted Greek-American and other youth, individually and with their families, including crisis intervention in various family situations.
She was employed at Johnson & Johnson in the Child Development Center in New Brunswick for six years. For 11 years, she worked as a translator in the NJ court system representing non-English speaking Greek clients.
She believed that Hellenic education is important in all learning. Furthermore, she knew that the Greek language and culture is the spirit and the heart of freedom and democracy. Eleni was an adorer and strong supporter of Greek Orthodoxy, Hellenic culture, the Hellenic spirit, and its poetry, and the arts in general. She enjoyed cultural events, attending concerts and ballet performances. Eleni’s interests were as varied as they were vibrant. She loved sewing, painting and sketching, fitness, travel, and theater. She had passion in all that she did.
Always an inspiration to her children and grandchildren, she was able to succeed with her patience, with all the obstacles that life put in front of her. Eleni had the courage never to surrender to any difficulty and to do the best for her family and the St. George Community.
She believed that education, in whatever profession, was the means to a better life for every human being. She said that we have the responsibility to help those that have less. She always remembered her roots and where she came from. She was known for her politeness and the richness of her feelings, and for her excellent and kind character. She brought her passion, generosity, and joy to all who knew her.
She always had her dreams and her goals, and she believed that these were gifts of God for the precious life that we must rejoice and celebrate. She was the complete epitome and example of what love of family is all about – children, grandchildren, and the greater community. She held a profound appreciation for her family, the Greek community, and a life well-lived. The love, strength, and persistence as a mother and a grandmother were her basic qualities and for those qualities she will be remembered by her children and grandchildren, and all those that knew her.
Eleni is predeceased by her husband, Dr. Efstathios L. Bourodimos; her daughter, Angela Bourodimos; her brother, Harilaos Mantzouranis, and her sister, Sonia Mantzouranis.
She leaves behind her son, Dr. Lampros E. Bourodimos; her daughter, Sonia Bourodimos Petinatos; her five grandchildren, Dionisios, Eleftheria, Julius, Maria, and Jason; her daughter-in-law Naomi Furrier Bourodimos, as well as her loving cousins, nieces, nephews, extended family, and dear friends in Greece and the USA.
A visitation will be held from 9:30-10 a.m. November 2 at the St. George Greek Orthodox Church, 1101 River Road, Piscataway. A funeral liturgy service will follow at 10 a.m., led by Very Reverend Nektarios Cottros.
Interment will take place at Sts. Peter and Paul Orthodox Cemetery in Hillsborough.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Greek School at the St. George Greek Community of Piscataway, NJ at www.gocnj.org/donations/donate-and-make-a-payment.
