Maria P. Katsilometes

1930 - 2025

After 95 years of a life filled with a variety of adventures, Maria Katsilometes, 95, died in her home on Nov. 25, 2025 of natural causes. Maria immigrated to the United States from Greece in the early 1950s originally going to California before relocating to Pocatello, where her mother, father and brother had all immigrated. It was in Pocatello, where Maria met her future husband Jim and after a short courtship, Jim and Maria were married on July 24, 1955, at Pocatello's Greek Orthodox Church. After the wedding, Jim and Maria were blessed with three children, Anastasia in 1957, George in 1958 and Tom in 1964. About the time Tom was born, Jim and Maria built their dream home which Maria designed and decorated and continued to live in for 61 years, still happily living in it until her death.

Maria always put her family first and considered it the most important thing in her life, always making sure her family had everything it needed to be comfortable. Maria's other passions were cooking, flowers and her church. She was an unbelievable cook. Anyone who had the chance to have a dinner she prepared would still talking about it years later not only because of the outstanding taste but also because of the immense portions she served. Another passion were her flowers. Even this year, she attended to her miniature roses in front of her house and was so prideful when a passerby commented on them. Some of her other favorite flowers were peonies, dahlias, clematis and zinnias. She was also an exceptional seamstress, sewing beautiful and elegant outfits for herself and her daughter.

Her other passion was her church. A longtime member of the Assumption Greek Orthodox Church, Maria and Jim spent many hours working for the Church. Maria was president of the Philoptohos Society (Friends of the Poor) several times. She spearheaded the creation of a highly successful Greek cookbook put together by the Philoptohos Society in the late 1960s where she spent countless hours going to local businesses to secure advertising to help finance the cookbook. She was chairwoman of the Greek Festival several times. She was also instrumental in decorating the Church Hall for the festivals.

Maria was also an animal lover who had dogs (Eric, Napolean and Josephine) while the kids were growing up before switching to cats. Her last pet was a cat named Morfoula, who died the day before Maria. Prior to her, Maria had two other cats, Haffy and Kryios.

Maria and Jim were a team that together purchased the Rockin J' Apartments on South 4th in the early 1970s until eventually selling them to retire. She had a good business sense even though she really didn't have a great deal of formal education. She also took great pride in the fact she taught herself to drive a car, stating "never got in a wreck and never got a ticket." Maria always kept her sense of humor. In her last couple of years, while struggling to remember something, she'd point to her head and say "it's on vacation."

Over the years Maria was a member of the Pocatello Music Society and Symphony Guild. She also liked to attend ISU football games and even went to this year's homecoming game. She is also thankful for the help she received, being able to live in her home for the last four years. These women simply added to Maria's life and Tanji, Donna, Jeanene, Jasmyn, Annika and Lena, became more friends than caregivers. A battler until the end, Maria was diagnosed with cancer three different times and was placed and then discharged from Hospice four years ago. It was at this time that the family had actually planned out her funeral, which was put on hold for four years.

Maria is survived by her three children. Anna Speros (John) of California, George (Gina) of Pocatello and Tom (Kathy) of Boise. She is also survived by her four grandchildren, Peter Speros, California; Jim Katsilometes, Washington; James Speros, California and Orie Katsilometes, Pocatello. She is preceded in death by her parents, numerous aunts and uncles, her brother John and sister Kathryn, and her beloved Jim.

The Trisagion service is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday, Dec. 5th at Wilks Colonial Chapel, 2005 S. 4th Ave. Funeral services are at noon Saturday, Dec. 6th at the Assumption Greek Orthodox Church, 518 N. 5th Ave. in Pocatello with the Mercy Meal to follow the graveside at the Orthodox Center, formerly the church hall, located next door to the church.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Greek Orthodox Church, P.O. Box 4567, Pocatello, Idaho 83205 in Maria's memory. More information about Maria can be found on the Wilks Funeral Home website.