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Stella Petrakis

Stella Petrakis (1890-1979) was a prominent member of the Greek-American community in Chicago, Illinois (USA) from 1923-1979, as well as the wife of the Rev. Mark Petrakis and the mother of author Harry Mark Petrakis. As the wife of a Greek priest, she was addressed by the title of Presbytera, “the priest’s wife.”

Early years in Crete and U.S.

Presbytera Stella was born Stella Christoulakis on May 9, 1890 in the village of Nipos, not far from the city of Rethymno in Crete in the central region of the island. At 17 she was introduced to a Greek Orthodox seminary graduate, Mark Petrakis. He was from the same region of Crete. Mark would later say of their first meeting, “She was very short…[with] a certain defiant air that suggested trouble...but she had an attractive face and fine thick hair…[I thought she would do] as well as any other girl” (quoted in Stelmark, the biography of Fr. Mark and Presbytera Stella Petrakis written by their son Harry Mark Petrakis). The two married and were stationed in the United States in the town of Price, Utah, where there was a mining community of Cretan-Americans that lacked a Greek priest. Fr. Mark and Presbytera Stella immigrated to the U.S. by ship in 1916, taking with them their four children who had been born in Crete. Upon arriving at Ellis Island, Presbytera Stella was heard to say, “I was glad the Statue of Liberty was a woman. I felt she would understand a woman’s heart.” From the Utah mining town of Price, the family traveled to serve a Greek parish in Savannah, Georgia; and then to another parish in St. Louis, Missouri, where her son Harry Mark was born. In all, Presbytera Stella had six children (Daniel, Barbara, Manuel, Tasula, Harry Mark, and Irene).

Chicago years

In 1923, the family settled in Chicago, where they were assigned to Sts. Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Church at South Michigan Avenue and 61st Street. It was the parish where they would serve for 28 years, until Fr. Mark’s death in 1951. Fr. Mark was the parish priest, but Presbytera Stella did much to serve the parish, and, notably, the community as well. She was always vigorously active in charitable activities outside the home. For his mother, her son Harry Mark would later write, “All roads led to service” (Stelmark, p. 46). Better educated than most Greek-American women of that time, she organized and led societies. On her arrival in the United States in 1916, before she could speak English, she had become active in World War I Liberty Bond drives. In the interval between World War I and World War II, she worked with interfaith groups and the Chicago Beautiful Committee. During World War II, she organized savings bond rallies, worked with Greek War Relief (as well as Russian War Relief), and led a program that sent letters and packages to young Greek-American servicemen. Her principal volunteer activity was the American Red Cross. The Bandage Unit she organized in 1923 would meet throughout her lifetime to her death in 1979 and beyond. In recognition of her efforts, the Red Cross would present her with a medal for 65 years of meritorious service.

Final days

Presbytera Stella died on May 27, 1979, having suffered a stroke following a fall in the hospital. For two days she lay in state at the church---a rare honor for a woman in those days. Among the mourners were many of her forty godchildren, many of whose parents she had brought together as matchmaker. She was 88 years old.

Further reading

1. Petrakis, Harry Mark. “A Mother’s Compassion, A Lesson In Life.” Chicago Sun-Times (May 11, 2013), p. 12.
2. Petrakis, Harry Mark. “Memories, Reflections on the Lives and Deaths of Two Mothers.” Chicago Tribune (May 14, 1995), p. 20.
3. Thomopoulos, Elaine Cotsirilos, ed. Greek-American Pioneer Women of Illinois. Mount Pleasant, SC: Arcadia Press, 2000.
4. Petrakis, Harry Mark. Stelmark: A Family Recollection. New York: David McKay, 1970.
5. Petrakis, Harry Mark. Reflections: A Writer’s Life, A Writer’s Work. Chicago: Lake View Press, c1970, c1983.
6. Petrakis, Harry Mark. Tales of the Heart: Dreams and Memories of a Lifetime. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 1999.
7. Petrakis, Harry Mark. Song of My Life (forthcoming, 2014).