January 17, 2011
A joyful, exciting, vibrant life
January 17, 2011
Lily was born in Athens, Greece, on June 23, 1933. She studied English Literature at Athens University and taught at Athens College, a Greek-American school. In 1960, she married Dimitri and they spent a year at the University of Kentucky doing graduate work.
Back in Greece Lily resumed teaching and her husband joined Mobil Oil Corporation. In 1965 she gave birth to Patrick and in 1970 to Olga. In 1979, Mobil transferred her husband to New York and Lily followed with the children. For her efforts to promote Scouting, Lily was awarded the Friends of Scouting medal by the Boy Scouts of Greece.
In 1987, another Mobil transfer sent the couple to Saudi Arabia where, during the First Gulf War, Lily worked as a volunteer at a U.S. military hospital and for her service in a war zone she was awarded a U.S. Army citation. In 1992, the couple moved to Carlsbad as Lily loved to live by the sea.
A lover of life-long learning, Lily read voraciously and traveled extensively, literally several times around the world. Her favorite trip was a cruise from Rio de Janeiro, round Cape Horn and back to San Diego. She enjoyed embroidering, jazzercise, cooking, time with friends and spoiling her five grandkids. A loving wife, mother and grandmother, Lily was loved by all because, ever forgiving and forgetting with a smile that could light up a room, she never said a bad thing about anyone and always helped people in need.
The family is grateful to Dr. Richard Payne, Lily’s doctor for 18 years, whose constant attention enabled her to pass away peacefully, without pain or discomfort, after a four-month battle with lung cancer, surrounded by her husband and her children. She is survived by Dimitri, Patrick, Olga, her son-in-law Sean and grandchildren Constantine, Larissa, Leonardo, Loukas and Tessa. Donations may be made to the Lung Cancer Foundation of America (www.LungCancerFoundation.org).