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CHRISTAKOS, Mary Jane (MERVIN)

August 21, 2015 83

CHRISTAKOS, Mary Jane (MERVIN)

B.A., U of T (Trinity ’54), Diploma Fine and Applied Arts, Cambrian, 1978. September 19, 1931– August 21, 2015. The family announces with sorrow that Mary Jane Christakos died peacefully on Friday, August 21, 2015, at the age of 83 years at St. Joseph’s Villa in Sudbury, Ontario, in the arms of her family attended by kind nursing staff. Born in Sudbury in 1931, Mary Jane was predeceased by her parents, Ben and Dorothy Merwin, sister Peg (Merwin) Hewson (Geale), brother Ben F. (Bud) Merwin Jr., nephew David Merwin and her beloved husband of 57 years, Harry A. Christakos, his parents Demetra and Aristiedes Christakos, and his sister Anastasia. She is survived by brother Miles Merwin (Jane) of Oakville and sister-in-law Diane (Bud’s wife). Cherished mother to her children Demetra, Arthur (Cory) of Aurora, Margaret of Toronto and Harry M. (Remembered by Bryan Gee.) Devoted grandmother to Zephyr, Silas, Clea and Ben. Fond aunt to surviving nieces and nephews Beth, Margaret, Ric, Ben, Anne Marie, Robert, and Robertson. Mary Jane Christakos was a noted Sudbury artist and arts educator, a tireless contributor to the dynamic regional arts community, a supporter of the Laurentian University Museum and Art Centre (later the Art Gallery of Sudbury), a long-serving community arts volunteer, a dedicated two-term Board member of the Ontario Arts Council, and a recipient of an Award of Distinction in 2003 for her contributions to the Greater Sudbury Civic Arts and Cultural Advisory Panel. Mary Jane was eclectic, determined and self-defined. She embodied the creed “Do Thine Own thing” and inspired many. Her early life was divided between the Merwin family home in Sudbury and summers spent in northern Ontario at her father’s lumber camps. She attended Bishop Strachan School (1949-51) and then graduated from Trinity College, University of Toronto (1954), one of few women in accounting. She returned to Sudbury marrying Harry A. Christakos, raising their four children and concurrently managing a career in business. In the 1970s she followed her true calling as an artist and to enrich her community through the arts. She co-founded the Sudbury Crafts Foundation (later SCARF), pursued fine arts studio education and assisted in establishing the Cambrian Artists and Communications Association. She then opened The Artisan on Larch Street, Sudbury, which offered expert advice and art supplies to many local artists for 35 years. One of her favourite activities was teaching painting to seniors at St. Andrew’s Place. She will be remembered by many Sudburians and her bereaved and appreciative children as a uniquely generous, tenacious, loving and wonderful woman. Many thanks are offered to the caring and dedicated staff at St. Joseph’s Villa in Sudbury where she resided for the past three years. In lieu of flowers, the family invites memorial donations, by cheque, to the Sudbury Community Foundation, specifying “The Mary Jane Christakos Fund”, a new arts endowment fund that will grow to provide community grants for art education, or to another charity of choice. Visitation with the family on Friday, August 28, from 12 noon at the Jackson and Barnard Funeral Home, 233 Larch Street, Sudbury, followed by Funeral Service in the R.J. Barnard Chapel at 2 pm. Cremation has taken place. Interment in Park Lawn Cemetery, Sudbury, at a later date.

Service Details

Provided by: Jackson & Barnard Funeral Home

Service
Friday, August 28, 2015
12:00 AM


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