Sylvia Artemis Kleanthous of Chelsea, Michigan, age 97, died Monday, December 16, 2024, at her home in Chelsea. She was born May 12, 1927, in Chania Crete, Greece, the second of three children born to Nicholas and Athena (Gerakakis) Maropoulou.

Sylvia was born and raised in Greece. At the end of high school, she was offered a U.S. scholarship to study medicine. She came to the U.S. with 7 other European children who had also been offered the scholarship. Sylvia attended class at Indiana Teacher’s College in Terre Haute for the first year. She then transferred to Wayne State for pre-med. Sylvia met Costas at Wayne State, in anatomy class. After she graduated from Wayne State, they got married and moved to Ann Arbor, where he attended U of M medical school. After medical school, Costas joined the army and they traveled the world – Texas, Germany, Italy, Africa, Oklahoma, Virginia, Georgia, and then in 1980, retired in Chelsea. Sylvia was very active in Chelsea. She taught painting and health (exercise classes, dance, hiking) with the Chelsea Senior Citizens for 20 years.  At St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, she was involved with Philoptocus (women’s group “friend of the poor”), raising money for the needy and for the church, and baking Baklava and Spanakopita for the yearly Greek festival. Sylvia also sold Christmas wreaths and put together Thanksgiving baskets. She supported Mott’s Children’s Hospital, Faith in Action, and was on the Chelsea Hospital Auxiliary board of directors.

On July 19, 1953, Sylvia married Costas Kleanthous. He preceded her in death on August 5, 2021. She is survived by three children, Emmanuela Chris (Theodore) Brogden of Iowa Park, TX, Pamela Sue (Kent) Smeltz of Dornsife, PA, James Kleo Kleanthous of Chelsea; two grandchildren, Juliana Artemis Smeltz and Erik James Smeltz; and one sister, Nancy (Costas) Roukoutaki. She was preceded in death by one brother, Emmanuel (Marica) Maropoulou.

Funeral services were held Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024, 10:00 a.m. at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in Ann Arbor, with Fr. Nicolaos H. Kotsis officiating. Burial took place at Ft. Custer National Cemetery in Augusta, Michigan. Memorial contributions may be made to St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, 3109 Scio Church Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48103. Arrangements were entrusted to Cole Funeral Chapel in Chelsea.