Sophia Koutoufaris

Sophia Koutoufaris, age 62, passed away in the early hours of July 5th, 2017 in her home at Milford, Delaware after fighting ovarian cancer for 16 months. She was surrounded by her closest family. When she was first diagnosed, Sophia doubted that she had the strength to endure the surgery and intense chemotherapy needed to keep the cancer at bay. Those doubts slowly evaporated over the next year as her resolve to spend as much time with her family gave her the strength to endure the surgery, treatments, disappointments, and relentless challenges that came her way. She was a fighter to her last breath.

Sophia was born in 1955 in the small mountain town of Arethousa located on the island of Ikaria, Greece. She was born to Stefanos and Maria Tripodis. Stefanos and Maria ran a farm and were beloved members of their village. Stefanos was a respected community leader and Maria was a dedicated nurse and midwife. She was proud to have delivered most of the babies in her village and surrounding areas.

As a child, Sophia worked on the farm along with her 4 older sisters Argyro, Koula, Ioanna, and Zoe. She was a major contributor to her household often keeping up with household and farm work especially when her father was away. After high school, Sophia attended college near Athens, Greece at SBIE where she studied to be a radiology technician.

In 1978, Sophia married Constantine Koutoufaris in his hometown of Agios Kirykos on the same Greek island she called home. Constantine brought his wife to Delaware where he had been living since he immigrated from Greece in 1969. Sophia planted deep roots in southern Delaware where she worked with Constantine in the restaurant business and gave birth to two children: son Triantafillos and daughter Irene.

While Sophia and Constantine had quite a few restaurants over the course of their career, the restaurant nearest and dearest to their hearts was the Country Skillet restaurant in Harrington, Delaware. They enjoyed working with their children at the restaurant and developed close bonds with coworkers and customers alike. To her last day, she would run into former employees and customers all the time that fondly remembered her from the restaurant. They opened the restaurant in 1995 and stayed until they retired from the restaurant business in 2004.

In the years following, Sophia saw both of her children graduate college, get married, and have children. She enjoyed spending her time visiting her sisters and other family members in Florida, New York and Greece as well as supporting her children as they brought up children of their own. Out of all the titles she had throughout her life, “Yiayia” was her absolute favorite!

Her enduring kindness and beautiful smile will always remain in the hearts of those who loved her.

Sophia is survived by her husband Constantine, son Trian and his wife Leslie, daughter Irene and her husband Zach, three grandchildren, and her sisters Argyro, Ioanna, and Zoe.