Thanas, Sylvia
Sylvia was born in Chicago on September 18, 1949, where she lived most of her life--save for countless excursions to Europe, Asia, and Africa as well as to destinations throughout the US and Canada--until she finally landed in 2019 in New Haven, CT, to join her sister Ellen’s family after retiring at age 70. She left this earth for parts unknown on September 17, 2022, from breast cancer, which she’d valiantly staved off for eight years.
She graduated from Visitation Elementary School and then Visitation High School as its valedictorian. She started college at DePaul but ultimately graduated from Northwestern University.
Being an English lit major, she began her career as an editor at The Realtors Journal but found that editorial work “ruined” reading for her. A Christmasseason job at Marshall Fields incongruously led to a full-time job in its IT department. She loved the precision and logic of her new career, which she found more satisfying than the wordiness and obfuscation of the printed word. From Fields she moved on to
CRT to The Bank of America and finally to the CME Group as a quality control specialist, where bugs and glitches in the code she tested stood no chance under her scrutiny. She made lifelong friends at every job she had.
Sylvia often referred to her niece (Natalie) and nephews (Nick, Brian, and Max) as the “adored horde” and though we lived on the East Coast, we’d made a pact to see each other at least every quarter. Being “part truck driver” the 900+ miles that separated us was no obstacle, and she drove to and fro with our mother in tow at least twice a year for 30 years. Her adoring horde sorely misses her, as do her sister (Ellen) and brother-in-law (Michael). She’s also missed by Elaine and Carl Mitsakopoulos (cousins and close family) and their children Mike (Gina) and Greg (Rhonda).
The house she bought in New Haven was her HGTV dream come true. (She was a big fan of the show.) She combed resale and antiques stores for “finds,” most of which needed a lot of TLC before they could be put into service. But this rocked her world. She also had a fine-tuned sense of quirkiness in her design aesthetic that showed up in some pretty interesting ways. For example, she painted the walls in her newly remodeled kitchen a bright strawberryred, which, to everyone’s surprise, turned out to look pretty cool.
Sylvia had a great capacity for finding joy in everyday life. Meals made at home or in restaurants were a particular favorite because, for her, it didn’t get
any better than good food and good conversation shared with loved family and friends.
A memorial gathering is scheduled on November 12
from noon to 2:00 at the Fireplace Inn, 1448 North Wells Street, Chicago. All family and friends are welcome. Donations in Sylvia’s memory may be made to the American Civil Liberties Union and to Habitat for Humanity.