Chrysoula E. Bastounis

Chrysoula E. Bastounis

Freeland, Michigan

Chrysoula Bastounis passed on to paradise on Wednesday October 19, 2022 at age 85.  Chrysoula was born in Olympia Greece in 1936.  As a young lady she used her talent and gift for speaking in her work as a tour guide in Olympia’s ancient sites, ruins and other significant antiquities.  Because of her knowledge of the German language, and her poetic use of the Greek language, Chrysoula was given the honor of presenting tours to officials and other dignitaries, who came to Olympia Greece during her tenure.  It was during her work in Olympia that she met a dashing policeman, Evangelos, with whom she fell in love, and he with her.  Chrysoula and Evangelos married and left for Canada soon after to join his family who had emigrated there.  Chrysoula and Evangelos had three children in Canada and decided to come to the United States in 1974.  They owned and operated their own business, a laundromat, in Saginaw, Michigan, where Chrysoula worked as a seamstress.  Chrysoula also enjoyed her time teaching the youth of St. Demetrios the essentials of their rich Greek language and culture for many years.  In 1991 they lost their beloved son, George, to cancer.  Chrysoula and Evangelos carried on and focused on their work, on their Greek community, and on making their home into a little piece of Greece, their homeland.  Evangelos planted and nurtured the outside with grapevines, beehives and a large garden.  Chrysoula made their home a place of peace and refuge, cooking dishes that were both traditional and inventive.  There was not a visitor to their home that did not marvel at her Greek dishes and their old world essence and flavor.  Evangelos showed his pride in her cooking talents by saying that his portly belly was her “college diploma.” Chrysoula loved to spoil her children and grandchildren by making their favorite dishes any time she saw them.   

Chrysoula and Evangelos were happily married for 62 years, sharing both the sweetness and bitterness of life together.  Chrysoula cherished her daughters and her grandchildren having special relationships with each one of them.  She loved her friends and family members and delighted in their phone calls and visits.  She loved each of them individually and with all her heart.  She especially appreciated many special friends and relatives who assured her well being and checked in on her daily. 

Chrysoula leaves behind her beloved husband Evangelos Bastounis, adored daughters Eleni Bastounis (Aleko Tsandinis) of Pavia, Italy, and Georgia Bastounis Lowe (Henry Lowe) of Denver Colorado, and dear grandchildren Chrysoula Gounaris, Spyros Tsandinis and Evangelos George Lowe.  She also leaves behind her brother Stavros Aktipis, Pirgos, Greece, her cousins Stavros Aktipis, New Jersey, and Dimitris Aktipis, Athens Greece, and many many other loved relatives.  Chrysoula is preceded in death by her treasured son George Evangelos Bastounis.