Anastasia O'Keefe

Anastasia O'Keefe, our beloved Tes, passed away on Friday, April 5, 2024, in Doylestown, Pennsylvania at the age of 71.
Tes was born on March 12, 1953, in Brooklyn, New York. She is survived by her husband Paul, her son Paul Jr. (wife Alexis), daughters Marisa and Jennifer (husband Rob) and her ten grandchildren, Brayden, Trystan, Georgia, Seraphina, Emerson, Petra, Summer, Beau, Ivy and Tessa. Tes was preceded in death by her father George Nicolaides, mother Mary Nicolaides and brother Nicholas Nicolaides.
Tes grew up in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, attended The Packer Collegiate Institute and went onto Wagner College, where she made lifelong friends. As a young person, Tes cultivated her love for fashion, jewelry, art, travel, music, and red lipstick.
Tes married the love of her life Paul, in 1978. They were committed to each other and an exemplary team for 48 wonderful years. Tes took great pride in being a devoted wife and mom.
Tes raised her family in Staten Island, New York and West Windsor, New Jersey, where she lovingly adorned her home, cherished the holidays and loved passing on family traditions to her children and grandchildren. She found great joy in taking her children to endless baseball games, concerts and trips to the ice cream parlor.
As a mother, Tes made the most ordinary days magical and filled with joy. Nurturing and nourishing her children with her wonderful cooking and baking, songs, warm touch and compassionate demeanor was her specialty. Her famous cinnamon buns during Christmas, Italian hero, spanokopita, and homemade summer pies will be forever missed.
Tes and Paul built their dream home in Orient Point, New York to spend time with their family. As a Yiayia, she immersed herself into the chaos of having a full house; with pillow fights, walks on the beach in search of sea glass, bonfires, swimming races, ice cream parties by the pool and feeding everyone all at once.
Traveling was a passion, particularly to her parent's island of Lesvos, Greece. Her Greek heritage and faith set her guiding principles for life. Tes shared this passion with Paul, her children and grandchildren by exploring Greece and having adventures together all over the world.
Tes found joy in reading, completing the Sunday times crossword puzzle and her daily wordle. She loved to watch movies, especially while beautifully wrapping Christmas presents she picked out with intention and care.
Her family will remember her in every sunset and with each piece of sea glass they find.
In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to Bryn Mawr Rehabilitation Hospital.
May her memory be eternal, and we will meet her again on the other side.
A Visitation will be held from 3:00PM – 8:00PM on Sunday, April 7, 2024, at The Mather-Hodge Funeral Home, 40 Vandeventer Avenue Princeton, NJ 08542. A Funeral Service will be held at 2:30PM on Monday, April 8, 2024, at St. George Orthodox Church, 1200 Klockner Road Trenton, NJ 08619. Burial will be private.