Eliopulos remembered fondly
LANCASTER — Dixie Lee Eliopulos was remembered as a woman of integrity, dignity, loyalty, generosity and faith.
A longtime Antelope Valley businesswoman and civic leader, Eliopulos, 84, died on March 22, on her beloved late husband Ted’s birthday. He died in 2005 at age 80.
She is survived by three sons, Greg (and wife Kristin), Darth (and wife Julie) and Randy; her brother Richard Marshall Applegate (and wife Maggie), her sister-inlaw Anne Pappas Eliopulos and 12 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.
Her family and friends gathered at Grace Chapel on Tuesday to remember her.
Greg Eliopulos recalled the notes his mother wrote in the greeting cards she gave him.
“Mom was an excellent writer,” he said. “Up until the last couple of years, mom also went to Hallmark to choose all the cards for everyone’s birthdays, holidays, whatever. Me, my goal is to locate the applicable section and get in and out in three minutes or less. But not mom, she took her time and always found a card that was personable to each of us.”
Dixie Eliopulos signed cards with love and appreciation.
“She used the word appreciation or appreciate many times through the years, verbally or written. It’s easy to overlook until understanding the definition of the word,” Greg Eliopulos said, then recited the definition.
He said his mother appreciated and enjoyed her entire family and those she worked with.
“She appreciated all of you here today; that was part of her being, her grace,” Greg Eliopulos said. “Mom always encouraged us and wanted the very best for us, always prayed for God’s timing, and give all things to him, as God’s timing is always perfect, in life and in death. I mean, she died on our father’s birthday — what a conclusion to a life on Earth. She really loved and missed dad, it’s only fitting for her to pass on March 22.”
Darth Eliopulos recalled how his mother purchased Antelope Valley Escrow in November 1959 when she was a single mother of one. He was born the next month. He became an employee and then a partner in the business with his mother and later purchased the company from her.
“A couple of the things she taught me, number one, hard work beats talent all the time,” Darth Eliopulos said. “My mom was from Nebraska and she has that Midwestern work ethic. Honest as the day is long. To this very day, if I have a resumé and they’re from Nebraska, they’re going to get interviewed and they’re probably going to get hired. When we would say that we were sick in the morning, she’d say, ‘Do me a favor go in the mirror and breathe and if it fogs up, you can go to work.’”
Another one of Dixie Eliopulos’s favorites was the work day.
“Our work day is pretty much easy to determine, there’s two options,” Darth Eliopulos said. “You can have the 12-hour that goes from AM to PM or you can have the 12-hour that goes from PM to AM, it’s your choice which one you want to work.”
Dixie Eliopulos also encouraged her children to dress for success.
“You don’t have to have the newest clothes, but they need to be cleaned and they need to be pressed,” Darth Eliopulos said. “She’d always look at my shoes and she’d say, ‘Wear shoes that are shined, it’s a reflection on your personal discipline.’ ”
She also encouraged her children to drive a car that showed they were successful, not arrogant.
“Probably the one that I’m the most proud of, because she really believed that every interaction is a divine encounter,” Darth Eliopulos said. “She hired people based on the needs of her business, but she believed that God brought them to her for other purposes. She was the toughest employer I’ve ever worked for.”
Randy Eliopulos said if his mother knew you, she cared about you.
“Whether you were a friend or a family member, a customer, or someone she just met...,” he said. “So, whoever you were and however she came to meet you, she valued what she knew to be the eternal part of your own being.”
He said his mother loved being a part of something.
“Her ancestors were immigrants and trailblazers,” Randy Eliopulos said.
She also loved being part of a family and loved leadership goals, but she also loved being a teammate.
“She loved to chase goals; she loved to meet opposition,” Randy Eliopulos said. “She was always interested in what interested you.”
Chris Johnson, senior pastor at Grace Chapel, said Dixie Eliopulos lived her life in such a way that she had nothing to hide.
“Who better to handle your escrow than Dixie Eliopulos,” he said. “She would not cut corners. She would not compromise for any reason at all.”
Pastor Pat Tanner read from Matthew Chapter 5:14 that epitomizes the Dixie Eliopulos he knows.
“Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your God, who is in heaven,” Tanner said. “Dixie did that. Her tenacity to help women lead abundant lives has touched thousands through her own teaching and the disciples that she made. Dixie would fiercely defend what she saw as good.”