1938
Evridiki
2012
Evridiki "Freda" Edmeades
January 4, 1938 — December 4, 2012
Evridiki "Freda" was born sometime in early January. She actually has no birth certificate - and they (back in Katerini) argue about the exact date of her birth. Her sisters say it was likely around the 4th -during Epiphany is what they all recall.
But as you can imagine in a small farming town - the details of a successful birth - weren't really significant.
So -
Here is the story as I can tell it.
Mom was born January 4th 1938. She was the 3rd child of Maria and Constantinos. The town they lived in was Katerini, Greece. The reason this family had settled here was that they were casualties of the repatriation from Turkey in 1922. Our family - the Vais - has a legend of being successful farmers and goat keepers in what is now know as Izmir - then Symrna. We also have ties to Lesbos.
Regardless... In the insanity of 1922 our family - as many others - found themselves on the shoreline with the family fortunes hemmed in their coat linings - and crossing to the most livable available port. Katerini seemed to be a direct line across the Sea - and that is where my family has been since 1922.
Mom weathered the communist war and the atrocities that happen to people when they are under siege.
There are family stories of Grandma pushing the small children under the house when the German soldiers came through- a memory my Mother never really moved beyond.
Mother was a superior student, and a wonderful daughter - but her position among the children made it hard for the family to forecast what her fate might be.
Her Father wanted her to marry - but she favored getting an education - and resigned herself to the fate that would inevitably took her from her home and put her into a place far distant from Katerini Greece.
Her family had already begun their move - although I don't know why they chose Portland Oregon. I suspect it was because the sister - Chrissa- who left to marry an American was here - but sadly - I don't have the exact details.
I do know that she had an Aunt - Effie - of whom she was very fond - and who made sure that she had a safe passage to the United States.
I can only imagine what it would be like to be a young girl, only nineteen, to make that journey alone... No language - but the opportunity and hope that life would be good.
I have asked my Mom many times what she thought would happen.... and her response was always..... " I just had to make the best of it." As I hear of so many other stories of family issues I can't help but think that it was a blessing and curse that Maria - my Grandmother was the fertile sister - and was able to give life to 6 healthy babies.... God love her for all the care she gave those children.
But let's just for a minute talk about that nuclear family - the Chatzigiannakos family..........
My Mother would never let you know that she came from a family that scrambled to make a living. She celebrated the fact that they were farmers and they lived off the land. There are many pictures that celebrate that family, the plots of land they farmed...but that also suggests how hard it was. One shows the family in the winter snows, living in tents on the heels of an earthquake that rocked the area. Once the war happened - everything changed... Greece - wasn't the country or the center of commerce that they had known.
This I am sure was an inspiration for Mom to think about coming to America.
The dowry system was still in place - and I have fond memories of Mom telling me that she was much more valuable than 2 goats, 2 sheep and a half plot of peach orchard.
I would like to share more of what it was like for her as a child of this family - but sadly I don't know.
Mom came to this country in 1957. Ironically it was the year that Elvis was touring - and she was ever so hoping to get a ticket to see him - but that didn't happen.
The exact details are a little sketchy - but I do know a few things that are facts.
Mom arrived in 1957- and immediately enrolled in college classes at Lewis and Clark College.
Shortly after her arrival - my Thea. Effie Parashos, encouraged an introduction to the tall, white, jovial milkman - to meet her immigrant daughter... and evidently - the rest as they say is history...
Mom and Dad had a wonderful adventures together taking kids to drive-in movies...... Ask Bill Parashos or Pete Parashos.... and sooner than we realized - they were an item...
The wedding took place on July 20th 1958 - by records one of the hottest days of that year. The pictures of the wedding party don't even begin to show how everyone was melting..... but heck - it was July.
The honeymoon was spent in San Fran and soon after, on March 26th 1960, their firstborn made her appearance.
Don was gainfully employed at Sunshine Diary and Mom immediately took over the job of being the CEO of all household operations. It was a good match that they endured until the moments of Mom's death.
Two children came home to the 'little house' as it is fondly known"...me and my brother "EJ". The address at 4547 NE 34th St. in the Wilshire neighborhood.
In 1968 the family moved to East County - fondly known as unincorporated East Multnomah County.
It didn't matter.
Mom loved it.
Open spaces - places where she could drive to Cougar Reservoir... Eagle Creek - get some rocks - and create her garden.
She lived for her outdoor space.
Mom belonged to a sorority - Beta Sigma Phi - and through that made many life long relationships. One imparticular - Marianne Kinne - became her American sister and the Kinne clan become transplanted in all our family celebrations for the rest of our lives.
In 1968 we moved from inner NE to the suburbs. The house was a mansion compared to what we left in NE Portland. We moved in with few possessions:a couch, beds for two rooms, a piano, a full kitchen, a rickety dining room table, and lots of space for opportunities. As we look at their house today - it is a space of love and acknowledgement of all those who came before them. Antiques, family heirlooms all tell stories and all are honored in their home.
So - let us talk about Mom..
Wow - What can you say about the person who is most important in your life - and is now not with you.
Mom was truly my best friend. I have only come to that conclusion as you have to have some kind of parameter - and she is the person that I was most engaged with most days of the week.
Mom was excellent at anything and everything that she tried. She didn't know how to do anything halfway and that included cooking, cleaning, taking care of her home, her yard and everyone of her family and friend.
For the many that have enjoyed a meal in our home -most would tell you that they had never tasted food so delicious. I always had joked with her that she could put a boot in a pot - and people would exclaim that it was the best darn boot they had ever eaten.
Mom was creative. She had an eye for color, creative hands to knit, crochet, needlepoint and sew. She could decorate a table that would be suitable for any royal to sit at.
Mom was attached to nature. She loved being outside. She would eat every meal she could outside. As soon as the weather would turn she would head to the yard. She spent hours manicuring her junipers, molding and shaping them. She rotated her flowers, she grew vegetables and harvested grape leaves each season so we could enjoy domades - fresh from the yard.
Also - Mom loved birds. As a young girl she would tell us that the coo of the doves would wake her early in the morning. She loved when the robins would sing in her yard, and she always had a bird feeder on the back deck and would watch them for hours.
Mom would always tell us that she didn't really like pets - but she raised a menagerie which included dogs, cats, squirrels, chipmunks, tropical fish, turtles and pigeons - lots of pigeons. While each of us as a family brought home these additions exclaiming how we would take care of them - somehow always the responsibility for them would transfer to Mom
Mom loved to clean. It gave her great pleasure to clean. Everything had to sparkle she would tell us. In her kitchen she displays her copper pot collection. Revere wear pots and pans from her wedding look as perfect as the day were unpacked from their boxes. She enjoyed the therapy of working hard and standing back and enjoying the sparkle.
There are certain smells that I associate with my Mother. The smell of oregano. As a kid growing up this spice was so unique - I could only get this smell at my house (or Thea's or my Greek cousins)
Also, the most prominent smell I associate with Mom is Pinesol. This cleaning agent was the cure for everything and anything dirty. Good for floors, toilets, walls, bicycles, bottom of shoes EVERYTHING. If you really want to get that clean and disinfected - Mom would just say one word. Pinesol.
In her last years I spent so much time with her traveling to doctor appointments, shopping, errands. I got to know her but I think mostly this was my window into myself. I could see how I was wired through her eyes and I had all the opportunities I needed to play, laugh, cry and celebrate so as the end has come, I have no regrets.
Mom was never afraid to die. She had a solid relationship with God, gave thanks every day, and prayed for the salvation of her family. She was so afraid to linger in death, being a burden. God was merciful, and answered her most important prayer by calling her home quickly, with little pain and suffering - and most importantly letting her pass while in the home she loved so much.
Mom was more than a Mother - she was an advisor - the advocate - -and also the person that you could access the true or BS factor against.
But one thing that Mom was more than anything.....
She was the ultimate magnet for her family.
If there was anything that my Mother gave me - it was the True North that no matter what happens in your life - your family is the only direction that you want to follow.
We had many discussions about the good, the challenging... the fact that no matter what happens - what photos are available- we are family
Mom - she is amazing. She is strong, capable. She is the glue of family. She is our rock.
What will I miss about her - only everything...
But as you can imagine in a small farming town - the details of a successful birth - weren't really significant.
So -
Here is the story as I can tell it.
Mom was born January 4th 1938. She was the 3rd child of Maria and Constantinos. The town they lived in was Katerini, Greece. The reason this family had settled here was that they were casualties of the repatriation from Turkey in 1922. Our family - the Vais - has a legend of being successful farmers and goat keepers in what is now know as Izmir - then Symrna. We also have ties to Lesbos.
Regardless... In the insanity of 1922 our family - as many others - found themselves on the shoreline with the family fortunes hemmed in their coat linings - and crossing to the most livable available port. Katerini seemed to be a direct line across the Sea - and that is where my family has been since 1922.
Mom weathered the communist war and the atrocities that happen to people when they are under siege.
There are family stories of Grandma pushing the small children under the house when the German soldiers came through- a memory my Mother never really moved beyond.
Mother was a superior student, and a wonderful daughter - but her position among the children made it hard for the family to forecast what her fate might be.
Her Father wanted her to marry - but she favored getting an education - and resigned herself to the fate that would inevitably took her from her home and put her into a place far distant from Katerini Greece.
Her family had already begun their move - although I don't know why they chose Portland Oregon. I suspect it was because the sister - Chrissa- who left to marry an American was here - but sadly - I don't have the exact details.
I do know that she had an Aunt - Effie - of whom she was very fond - and who made sure that she had a safe passage to the United States.
I can only imagine what it would be like to be a young girl, only nineteen, to make that journey alone... No language - but the opportunity and hope that life would be good.
I have asked my Mom many times what she thought would happen.... and her response was always..... " I just had to make the best of it." As I hear of so many other stories of family issues I can't help but think that it was a blessing and curse that Maria - my Grandmother was the fertile sister - and was able to give life to 6 healthy babies.... God love her for all the care she gave those children.
But let's just for a minute talk about that nuclear family - the Chatzigiannakos family..........
My Mother would never let you know that she came from a family that scrambled to make a living. She celebrated the fact that they were farmers and they lived off the land. There are many pictures that celebrate that family, the plots of land they farmed...but that also suggests how hard it was. One shows the family in the winter snows, living in tents on the heels of an earthquake that rocked the area. Once the war happened - everything changed... Greece - wasn't the country or the center of commerce that they had known.
This I am sure was an inspiration for Mom to think about coming to America.
The dowry system was still in place - and I have fond memories of Mom telling me that she was much more valuable than 2 goats, 2 sheep and a half plot of peach orchard.
I would like to share more of what it was like for her as a child of this family - but sadly I don't know.
Mom came to this country in 1957. Ironically it was the year that Elvis was touring - and she was ever so hoping to get a ticket to see him - but that didn't happen.
The exact details are a little sketchy - but I do know a few things that are facts.
Mom arrived in 1957- and immediately enrolled in college classes at Lewis and Clark College.
Shortly after her arrival - my Thea. Effie Parashos, encouraged an introduction to the tall, white, jovial milkman - to meet her immigrant daughter... and evidently - the rest as they say is history...
Mom and Dad had a wonderful adventures together taking kids to drive-in movies...... Ask Bill Parashos or Pete Parashos.... and sooner than we realized - they were an item...
The wedding took place on July 20th 1958 - by records one of the hottest days of that year. The pictures of the wedding party don't even begin to show how everyone was melting..... but heck - it was July.
The honeymoon was spent in San Fran and soon after, on March 26th 1960, their firstborn made her appearance.
Don was gainfully employed at Sunshine Diary and Mom immediately took over the job of being the CEO of all household operations. It was a good match that they endured until the moments of Mom's death.
Two children came home to the 'little house' as it is fondly known"...me and my brother "EJ". The address at 4547 NE 34th St. in the Wilshire neighborhood.
In 1968 the family moved to East County - fondly known as unincorporated East Multnomah County.
It didn't matter.
Mom loved it.
Open spaces - places where she could drive to Cougar Reservoir... Eagle Creek - get some rocks - and create her garden.
She lived for her outdoor space.
Mom belonged to a sorority - Beta Sigma Phi - and through that made many life long relationships. One imparticular - Marianne Kinne - became her American sister and the Kinne clan become transplanted in all our family celebrations for the rest of our lives.
In 1968 we moved from inner NE to the suburbs. The house was a mansion compared to what we left in NE Portland. We moved in with few possessions:a couch, beds for two rooms, a piano, a full kitchen, a rickety dining room table, and lots of space for opportunities. As we look at their house today - it is a space of love and acknowledgement of all those who came before them. Antiques, family heirlooms all tell stories and all are honored in their home.
So - let us talk about Mom..
Wow - What can you say about the person who is most important in your life - and is now not with you.
Mom was truly my best friend. I have only come to that conclusion as you have to have some kind of parameter - and she is the person that I was most engaged with most days of the week.
Mom was excellent at anything and everything that she tried. She didn't know how to do anything halfway and that included cooking, cleaning, taking care of her home, her yard and everyone of her family and friend.
For the many that have enjoyed a meal in our home -most would tell you that they had never tasted food so delicious. I always had joked with her that she could put a boot in a pot - and people would exclaim that it was the best darn boot they had ever eaten.
Mom was creative. She had an eye for color, creative hands to knit, crochet, needlepoint and sew. She could decorate a table that would be suitable for any royal to sit at.
Mom was attached to nature. She loved being outside. She would eat every meal she could outside. As soon as the weather would turn she would head to the yard. She spent hours manicuring her junipers, molding and shaping them. She rotated her flowers, she grew vegetables and harvested grape leaves each season so we could enjoy domades - fresh from the yard.
Also - Mom loved birds. As a young girl she would tell us that the coo of the doves would wake her early in the morning. She loved when the robins would sing in her yard, and she always had a bird feeder on the back deck and would watch them for hours.
Mom would always tell us that she didn't really like pets - but she raised a menagerie which included dogs, cats, squirrels, chipmunks, tropical fish, turtles and pigeons - lots of pigeons. While each of us as a family brought home these additions exclaiming how we would take care of them - somehow always the responsibility for them would transfer to Mom
Mom loved to clean. It gave her great pleasure to clean. Everything had to sparkle she would tell us. In her kitchen she displays her copper pot collection. Revere wear pots and pans from her wedding look as perfect as the day were unpacked from their boxes. She enjoyed the therapy of working hard and standing back and enjoying the sparkle.
There are certain smells that I associate with my Mother. The smell of oregano. As a kid growing up this spice was so unique - I could only get this smell at my house (or Thea's or my Greek cousins)
Also, the most prominent smell I associate with Mom is Pinesol. This cleaning agent was the cure for everything and anything dirty. Good for floors, toilets, walls, bicycles, bottom of shoes EVERYTHING. If you really want to get that clean and disinfected - Mom would just say one word. Pinesol.
In her last years I spent so much time with her traveling to doctor appointments, shopping, errands. I got to know her but I think mostly this was my window into myself. I could see how I was wired through her eyes and I had all the opportunities I needed to play, laugh, cry and celebrate so as the end has come, I have no regrets.
Mom was never afraid to die. She had a solid relationship with God, gave thanks every day, and prayed for the salvation of her family. She was so afraid to linger in death, being a burden. God was merciful, and answered her most important prayer by calling her home quickly, with little pain and suffering - and most importantly letting her pass while in the home she loved so much.
Mom was more than a Mother - she was an advisor - the advocate - -and also the person that you could access the true or BS factor against.
But one thing that Mom was more than anything.....
She was the ultimate magnet for her family.
If there was anything that my Mother gave me - it was the True North that no matter what happens in your life - your family is the only direction that you want to follow.
We had many discussions about the good, the challenging... the fact that no matter what happens - what photos are available- we are family
Mom - she is amazing. She is strong, capable. She is the glue of family. She is our rock.
What will I miss about her - only everything...
Visitation
Rose City Funeral Home
5625 Northeast Fremont Street
Portland
,
OR
US
97213-1754
Saturday, December 8, 2012, 12:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Trisagion
Rose City Cemetery
5625 NE Fremont St.
Portland
,
OR
US
97213
Sunday, December 9, 2012, 7:00 PM - 7:45 PM
Funeral
Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral
3131 NE Glisan Street
Portland
,
OR
US
Monday, December 10, 2012, 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Cemetery
Willamette National Cemetery
11800 S.E. Mt. Scott Blvd.
Portland
,
OR
US
97266
Monday, December 10, 2012, 1:00 PM - 1:30 PM
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