Vasiliki (nee Kallinteris) was born and raised in Agioneri, Arcadia, Greece. The only girl among four brothers, she spent her early years working with her parents on their farm and in their general store in the village while also helping her mother take care of the family. She was especially partial to her youngest brother, Dimitri, and the two of them shared a special bond.

She lived through the hard years of WWII, the German Occupation, and the civil war in Greece. In 1949, she married her husband George Bournias (1917-2011) and they settled in Athens, Greece. Their two daughters were born in the next few years and Vasiliki dedicated herself to taking care of her family.

With just a grade school education herself, Vasiliki gave her daughters, her grandchildren, and her community a master class in what it meant to reach higher. Vasiliki once took her oldest daughter at the age of 5 to the steps of the University of Athens where she told her, "this is a place where you will go one day to learn and to become someone."

In 1967, without a lick of English between them, Vasiliki and George and their two daughters emigrated from Athens, Greece to the United States. With hopes of giving their daughters more educational opportunities, they settled in Downey, California.

Determined, and with the support of their faith and community, George and Vasiliki provided the stability, safety, and comfort from which so many flourished. Vasiliki prepared too many home cooked meals to count and made endless trips between her daughters' homes helping to care for their children so that they could also pursue their careers. She shared countless words of wisdom and encouragement with her grandchildren about work and life—and even love! It is upon her sturdy shoulders which we all stand. A scientist, an engineer, a psychologist, a surgeon, a designer, an entrepreneur (among them several devoted mothers), were all born from this woman who worked hard her whole life and gave to everyone.

And along the way she helped build more than just her family. She was a "yiayia" to many and always willing to help others, especially the working women in her community. Vasiliki played a role in cultivating the Greek church in Downey into the tight knit community it is today.

She lived an active life, baking, cooking, gardening and caring for those she loved—both family and friends—until she experienced a stroke at 91, which left her paralyzed and unable to speak. She survived another 7 years until her passing at the age of 98, peacefully at home, surrounded by her loving family and dear friends.

"Our lives would not have been possible without you, and they will never be the same now that you are gone. May your memory be eternal, Yiayia."

Vasiliki is survived by her loving family: daughters and sons-in-law Dimitra and Gerassimos Fotinatos, Nicole and Demosthenes Vardiabasis, granddaughters Kristina (Scott) Schlegel, Stefania (Ray Cagan) Pifer, Katerina (Chris) Marcovici, grandson Nicolas Vardiabasis, great grandchildren Nicoletta Marcovici, Veronica Schlegel, Christopher Marcovici, Rafaela Cagan, brother and sister-in-law James (Dimitri) and Virginia Kallins, her nieces and nephews and their families in California, in Canada and in Greece and her sisters-in-law and brother-in-law in Greece.

The Trisagion  will be on Sunday, October 1, 2017 at 7:00 pm. The funeral service will be on Monday, October 2, 2017 at 10:00 am. Both services will be held at Saint George Greek Orthodox Church, 10830 Downey  Avenue, Downey, CA 90241. Interment will follow at Rose Hills Memorial Park, Whittier, CA. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions be made in Vasilki's memory to Saint George Greek Orthodox Church of Downey.

Arrangements under the direction of Chapman Funeral Homes - Terry & Mary Harmon, Funeral Directors. Toll free (855) 628-0447.

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Obituary notice for Chapman Funeral Homes. Please visit www.chapmanfuneraldirectors.com .

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