Vickie Athanason

Vickie Athanason passed away in Florida on Friday, May 4, 2018 at Delray Beach Hospital.  Her husband and children were with her as she left this world and entered the Kingdom of Heaven.  She was 90 years old.

Vickie was born to parents George and Niki Rigas in Brooklyn, New York in 1928.  She had a sister; Nina and a brother James.  When she was two years old, and as a result of the US depression, her father sent the family back to Greece to live a better life.

She and her family survived the German occupation and the Greek civil war and then returned to the US and moved to Greenville, South Carolina.  At 21, she met Lieutenant Frank Athanason and they were married in 1952.

For the next 26 years, she was the wife of an Army officer and teamed with her husband in the traditional role as an Army wife.   They moved 20 times to different assignments both in the US and internationally.  While Frank was at war in Viet Nam for two tours, she cared for her children; Nickie, Michael and Debbie and kept things organized at home.  

Some of her more notable assignments were in Germany where Frank was base commander at Kitzingen.   Vickie performed an incredibly important role as the wife of a community leader of 4000 soldiers and 1,200 families.

Just before Frank retired from the military after 32 years, Vickie and Frank received a 5-year assignment to represent the United States in its NATO mission in Greece – where her and her husband’s Greek language and cultural knowledge were instrumental in maintaining and improving US-Greek relations during the cold war.

Vickie was a very religious person.  As a devout Greek Orthodox, she made sure her children had a relationship with God.  Although she will be greatly missed, the family takes comfort that she is now happily in the presence of the Lord.

She is survived by her husband of 66 years, Colonel Frank Athanason, two daughters; Nickie Athanason, Debbie McCaffrey and one son; Michael Athanason.  Vickie and Frank’s marriage was a huge role model for everyone that knew them and saw the love that they shared.

Cherished grandchildren:  Alex Dymersky, Tori McCaffrey, Avery McCaffrey, Zoe Athanason, Nicholas Athanason and James Athanason

The Funeral Mass will be held on Monday, May 7 at 10:00am at St. Mark Greek Orthodox Church- 2100 NW 51st Street (Yamato Road) Boca Raton, Florida 33431

Her burial will be held at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington DC.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to St. Mark Greek Orthodox Church to support needy family programs.     

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