ELENE H. CALLAS Obituary
Published by Legacy Remembers on Aug. 16, 2024.
Wrapped in the arms of her granddaughters, Alegra & Camile, embraced by her daughter, Barbara Callas, and son-in-law, Paul Gurian, Elene Callas, in the grace of peaceful sleep, passed from this life.
Elene was married to James Callas for sixty-three years. Following his retirement, they moved from Lancaster - their home of sixty-years - to Oceanside where, in 2015, James passed away. Self-reliance was Elene's badge of honor. She lived on her own until agreeing, at ninety-five, to reside with Barbara and Paul in their Pacific Palisades home where she thrived as the matriarch of three generations. Elene's parents, Constantinos Balaskas and Maria Rorris Balaskas, immigrants from Greece, would have praised the devotion to their cultural root.
Elene was a young 95: curious and open to new experience - people, culture, and art. A lifetime of humdrum domestic obligation turned into one of sharing a glass of wine, stories of her history - History she witnessed - with young friends as much as 80-years her junior. Her 99th was celebrated by Alegra accompanying Yaya on an Alaskan Cruise: two souls bound by love as deep and mysterious as the seas they sailed. At her 100th, surrounded by her adoring family, she smiled with every bite of Barbara's incomparable chocolate cake.
During the days of sitting shiva, many came to express condolences and praise her singular life.
The pain abides but light will come and fill the shadows with her smile.
Elene was married to James Callas for sixty-three years. Following his retirement, they moved from Lancaster - their home of sixty-years - to Oceanside where, in 2015, James passed away. Self-reliance was Elene's badge of honor. She lived on her own until agreeing, at ninety-five, to reside with Barbara and Paul in their Pacific Palisades home where she thrived as the matriarch of three generations. Elene's parents, Constantinos Balaskas and Maria Rorris Balaskas, immigrants from Greece, would have praised the devotion to their cultural root.
Elene was a young 95: curious and open to new experience - people, culture, and art. A lifetime of humdrum domestic obligation turned into one of sharing a glass of wine, stories of her history - History she witnessed - with young friends as much as 80-years her junior. Her 99th was celebrated by Alegra accompanying Yaya on an Alaskan Cruise: two souls bound by love as deep and mysterious as the seas they sailed. At her 100th, surrounded by her adoring family, she smiled with every bite of Barbara's incomparable chocolate cake.
During the days of sitting shiva, many came to express condolences and praise her singular life.
The pain abides but light will come and fill the shadows with her smile.
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