Irene Maliaros Mathas

On January 23, 2024, Irene Maliaros Mathas, age 92, of Norfolk, Virginia, died from heart and kidney failure related to complications from contracting Covid in December. She fell into sleep peacefully listening to The Liturgy of Peace composed by Chris Kypros and performed by the Greek Orthodox Annunciation choir, which included amongst its members Irene and her deceased husband and true love-of-her life, Efthimios T. "Tim" Mathas. By her bedside were her two sons, Thomas E. Mathas of Norfolk and Theodore A. Mathas of Charlottesville, and their respective wives, Robyn and Keryn, who Irene always referred to lovingly as her daughters, often sharing that each of her boys married exactly the right person for them.

Irene was a kind, compassionate and optimistic soul who lived to care for others. She wanted what you wanted, and she was always willing to help you achieve it. The only thing she ever shied away from in life was the limelight. She had a determined work ethic, which she learned from her mother, and an innate intellectual curiosity, which she inherited from her father. Generous in every way, she was devoted as a wife, nurturing as a mother, beloved as a teacher, engaged as a nouná to her six godchildren and cherished as a "second mom" by close family and friends. She enjoyed a special relationship with each of her five grandchildren â€" Mia, Julia, Tim, Ella and Sophie â€" and loved being their Yia Yia.

Irene was born on November 18, 1931, in Boston, Massachusetts to Theodore Maliaros and Penelope Vavadelis Maliaros, who emigrated from Mytilene, Greece in July of 1929 on the eve of the Great Depression. After Boston, her family lived for a short period of time in New Jersey until her father was able to find consistent work in a family restaurant in Norfolk, Virginia. In 1941, they moved into a duplex on 19th Street, where Irene, her younger sister Pela (Jenkins) and her older sister Mary (Gretes) enjoyed watching people at the drive-in outside Doumar's from their bedroom window. Irene was very close to her father, who used to call her "agape mou" which means "my love." He died in 1944 from cancer when Irene was just 13 years old. She graduated from Maury High School in 1949, and then she matriculated to Mary Washington College of the University of Virginia along with her closest cousin, Mary Catherines.

Before graduating from Mary Washington in 1953 with a degree in Mathematics, she spent her summers working at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in the underwater explosions division measuring the displacement of waves. Following graduation, she began her career teaching mathematics at the Northside Junior High School. She married George Constantine in 1956, who died just two years later from a congenital heart issue. During her summers while she wasn't teaching, she pursued a masters degree in science and math records from William & Mary, which she received in 1962.

The Greek Orthodox Church was a huge part of her life. She sang in the choir for over 80 years! It was in the choir at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Norfolk that she met her future husband, Tim Mathas. He moved to Norfolk from Milwaukee in 1958 and was immediately taken by Irene's beauty and kind spirit. When he asked her out that year, she explained that she could not date him as she was still mourning her husband's passing. She would not date anyone for almost five years out of respect for her deceased husband, although Tim made it a practice to ask her out once each year.

Tim knew she was worth waiting for, which he did until 1962 when they went on their first date, but only after he visited his closest friends â€" Nick and Mary Vourlas â€" to make sure he looked really good for this long-awaited moment. They were engaged within three months and were married on August 17, 1963 â€" they lived a real-life love story and continued to sing together in the choir with the Annunciation community at the center of their lives. One of Irene's most treasured contributions to this community was co-founding the Summer Youth Camp, which is still running today.

When Irene was three months pregnant with Tommy in 1965, she was required by school policy to stop teaching, but she successfully petitioned the school board on behalf of her students so that she could keep teaching them until the end of the school year. Irene then focused on being a full-time homemaker and mother with Teddy joining the family in 1967. Tim followed his entrepreneurial instincts and opened Chesapeake Bay Beverage Company, explaining to Irene that depending upon the success of their new business, they would be dining on "either hot dogs or chateaubriand."

The business was successful, and in 1970, they moved with their two boys and Irene's mom to a beautiful home in the woods on Lake Whitehurst on Hunters Trail. The next twenty years of their life together were filled cultivating meaningful relationships, celebrating holidays and milestones, and enjoying good food and fun with Irene as the consummate host to extended family and friends as Tim held court inside their home and by the pool. Their Fourth of July parties â€" on Tim's birthday â€" were legendary.

Irene began teaching mathematics again in 1983, this time at Norview High School, where she was given a yard stick in recognition for always "going the extra yard" for her students. In 1990, Tim suffered a fatal heart attack, leaving Irene and her mother in a now-quiet home. Irene never complained about any of life's challenges and her kind spirit was never broken as she focused her love on her students and her friends in the Annunciation community and continued to take care of everyone around her including her aging mother.

In 1997, when she retired from teaching, she decided a change was needed, and she and her mom moved to a beach condo at Lesner Point. They enjoyed watching the sunsets each night and lived a simpler life until Irene's mom passed away in 2004 at the age of 98. She enjoyed dinners with and the companionship of Nick Gretakis until he passed away in 2009. Irene moved to a condo on Bolling Avenue in Norfolk near her son Tommy in 2010, and then in 2015 she joined the retirement community at Harbor's Edge. She made many good friends there, and she appreciated and was loved by the nursing and facilities team in assisted living of Harbor's Edge. We thank them for taking good care of her for the past four years.

Irene was a beautiful and strong person in every way, right up until the very end. As she would often say, she lived a long and good life. Her warm smile and caring presence will be forever missed by all of her family including her many nieces and nephews and all of the people she felt grateful to call her friends.

A memorial (Trisagion) service will begin at 6pm on Sunday, January 28th at H.D. Oliver Funeral Apartments at 1501 Colonial Avenue in Norfolk. Immediately following the brief service, the family will share thoughts about Irene and welcome the opportunity to visit with friends. The funeral will be held at 11am on Monday, January 29th at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral at 7220 Granby Street in Norfolk. Irene will then be buried next to her husband Tim who has been patiently waiting for her at Forest Lawn Cemetery at 8100 Granby Street in Norfolk. The family invites all friends to join them for a luncheon at the Hellenic Center at the church following the burial service.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you consider a donation in memory of Irene and her generous spirit to a cause you care deeply about. Online condolences may be offered to the family at hdoliver.com.