Lucille Pantelis
Waterford — Lucille K. Pantelis, 89, of Waterford, passed away May 16, 2020, peacefully at home, surrounded by her loving family. She was born Jan. 25, 1931, in Bangor, Maine, the daughter of the late Donald S. Kimball and Marian E. Phillips. She was married to Peter G. Pantelis on Aug. 21, 1960, at St. Barbara Greek Orthodox Church in New Haven, and celebrated 56 years of marriage prior to Peter’s passing in October 2016.
Lucille graduated from Hamden High School and received her nursing degree in 1953 from the University of Connecticut, where she met her future husband. Mrs. Pantelis worked as a registered nurse for 30 years, first as head nurse at Grace New Haven Hospital, and later, as an evening supervisor at Nutmeg Pavilion Healthcare in New London.
Lucille had the gift of music. She was an extremely talented sight-reader, an accomplished flutist of the Noank-Mystic Community Band, as well as an original member of the Waterford Community Band. After converting to the Greek Orthodox faith, she was a long-time member of Saint Sophia Greek Orthodox Church in New London. She was a person of deep faith and very devoted to the church community. She took organ lessons and became the church organist, where she served loyally for 46 years.
She traveled extensively as a child, and later took many family vacations. Her trips included — Damariscotta
Lake in Maine, Lake Shasta in California, a cruise to Alaska, overseas travel to visit her heritage in England and other ventures to Scotland, Ireland, Greece and the Holy Land in Israel.
She was an avid bridge player, competing in tournaments, and continued weekly games in Waterford, where she developed many friendships. In her later years, she kept her mind sharp by completing daily paper Jumbles and crosswords and playing online games. She was a lifetime fan of the UConn women’s basketball team, Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots.
Lucille leaves behind a loving family — her beloved sister, Ann Heinrichs, of Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y.; son Peter G. Pantelis Jr. and wife Brenda, of Stratford; daughter Irene A. Burrows, of Waterford; son Thomas S. Pantelis and wife Erin, of Dunedin, Fla.; and two grandchildren, Kristin Pantelis, of Stratford, and Lauren Hill, of Los Angeles, Calif. Her beloved kitty, Marbles, misses her dearly.
The family would like to extend a special thanks to the team at Beacon Hospice Care and Sarah from CareCo Medical of Waterford.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a private graveside service will be held Thursday, May 21, 2020, at Cedar Grove Cemetery, where she will be buried next to her husband. Byles Memorial Home is assisting the family with the arrangements. Livestream service information can be acquired by contacting Byles Memorial at (860) 442-0343. Please visit www.byles.com to sign the guestbook.