Sophia Leventis

Sophia Economus Leventis was born in Portland, Oregon in 1918 to James and Christina Economus, her parents who immigrated from Greece. She had three brothers, George, John and Dan and one sister, Virginia. They all spoke Greek in the home, and learned English playing with the neighbor children.

Her father owned a hat blocking shop in downtown Portland. Sophia would ride the streetcar from their home in NE Portland to her dad’s shop and deliver lunch for him and his crew. Around the corner was the original Fred Meyer’s grocery store. One day Fred asked Sophie’s father, James, if he would loan him $1,000 to open a grocery store on the east side of town. He did and they shook hands on the deal, no written contract was needed. When the time came to pay back the loan, Fred asked James if he would like to become a partner. My grandfather replied, “Fred, what do I want with a grocery store?” Of course, our family always laughs about this.

As a little girl, Sophia attended Vernon Grammar School and then graduated from Jefferson High School in 1936. She and her brothers and sister were avid tennis players, and her brothers went on to become the west coast tennis champions while attending University of Oregon. Prior to beginning of WWII both Mom and her sister, Virginia, entered into college. While Virginia attended the University of Oregon, Sophia wanted to become a teacher and attended Monmouth Teacher’s College.

The Greek men in town asked my grandfather, “Why do you want to waste money sending girls to college?” My grandfather only went to the third grade in Greece and knew the value of a good education. He sent all five children to college during the depression years! Unfortunately, Sophia never had the opportunity to finish college because of her father’s death and then the starting of World War II. All three brothers and her brother-in-law Jack Langus went into the service, while Sophia and Virginia moved back home to help support their mother.

During the war, Sophia worked as a secretary for the Russian Lend/Lease Program. She always, said the Russian men were very serious, quiet, and hard working. They gave her a bottle of Russian vodka for Christmas.

After the war, she met and married her husband, Tom Leventis of Detroit, Michigan. Sadly, they could not have children of their own and so out of the goodness of their hearts, they adopted two Greek orphans (George and Kathryn) from Greece. Since Tom and Sophia could not complete their college education due to the war, they had a strong conviction for education and guided both of their children to graduate from college.

Sophia loved her family and loved her church. She was very active in Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church and was on the organizing committee that began the Greek Festival. It is the largest ethnic festival in Portland and has been ongoing for 50 years.

In addition to dealing with daily family responsibilities, Sophia was also the bookkeeper for her husband Tom’s real estate office and for the three restaurants they owned. They owned and ran Welch’s Taco Houses for over 20 years.

Sophia had always been health conscious back before it became the popular thing to do. She believed in eating right, exercising and never smoked or drank alcohol. She contributes that to a long life. Sophia’s one weakness was her love for a tasty dessert. She used to say, “There is always room for dessert.” Her Greek cooking has always been a favorite of the family.

Mom gave her children lots of love and wise advice:

“If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.”

“If you are having a bad day, don’t take it out on anyone else.”

“You make your own happiness.”

“Smile, it goes a long way.”

“Family is the most important thing in the world.”

Survivors include:

Her son George Leventis and his wife Georgia of Marysville, Michigan
Her daughter Kathryn Leventis Molesa and her husband George of Portland, Oregon
Her grandchildren: Jennifer Dibiase, Georgia Leventis-Molina, Sophia Leventis, Thomas Molesa, and Christina Molesa
Many nieces and nephews

NOTE: In lieu of flowers, if anyone would like to make a contribution in the name of Thomas and Sophia Leventis for the Greek Orthodox Camp Angelos.