Irene “Rena” Maragos

Irene “Rena” Maragos,

77, Elkhorn, NE, formerly

of Minot, ND, passed

away Saturday, June 3,

2017 at the Crowell

Memorial Home in Blair,

Nebraska.

Irene Evelyn Houllis

was born June 21, 1939,

the daughter of Peter and

Androniki (Fergadiotis)

Houllis, in Ambridge, PA.

She was raised and edu-

cated in Ambridge and

graduated from Rochester

High School in 1957. Fol-

lowing high school, Rena

worked as a secretary for

the local area newspaper.

Rena’s brother, James

“Jim” Houllis, became

friends with Samuel

“Sam” Maragos while liv-

ing in Minot, ND. Jim told

Sam that he had a sister

back in Pennsylvania that

he really needed to meet,

and brought him home for

a visit. Rena and Sam hit

it off, and were married in

July of 1960 in Minot.

They were the first couple

of second generation

Maragoses to be married

in St. Peter’s Orthodox

Church.

They made their home

in Minot, until moving to

Las Vegas, NV. There,

Sam and Rena founded a

sign company known as

American Signs. Rena

also worked for the Las

Vegas Convention & Visi-

tors Authority as a Visitor

Ambassador for tra-

deshows and conventions.

Sam and Rena loved to

visit the beach in Califor-

nia, go out to eat together

and to visit with their

grandchildren in Las Ve-

gas. Sam passed away

June 1, 2010. Rena briefly

returned to Minot, before

moving to Elkhorn, NE in

the fall of 2013.

Rena was a member of

St. Peter the Aleut Ortho-

dox Church of Minot and

All Holy Spirit Greek

Orthodox Church of El-

khorn, NE. She was once

a member of tennis and

bowling leagues in Minot,

Bridge Club, a regular at

the Minot Supper Club,

the Treasurer of the

Young Republicans Club

of Minot and an original

board member of the

Minot Hockey Boosters.

She was also a member of

the Greek organization

Philoptochos “Friends of

the Poor” in both Minot

and Omaha.

Rena enjoyed painting,

playing bingo, writing and

reading. She was a strong,

caring and generous wom-

an who always saw the

best in others. Her ap-

proachable and nonjudg-

mental nature led to many

dear and lasting friend-

ships. The coffee pot was

always on in Rena’s home

and she could be found at

all hours of the day hold-

ing court and visiting with

her friends. Her laugh and

smile could light up a

room, and she was con-

sidered a best friend by

many.

Surviving family in-

cludes:

Sons, George (Christine)

Maragos, Billings, MT,

Anthony Maragos, Las Ve-

gas, NV and Samuel “Bj”

Maragos, Las Vegas, NV;

daughter, Androniki

“Nikki” (Mike) Moravec,

Elkhorn, NE; grandchil-

dren, McKenzie, Abbie,

Alexa, Jace and Vivian

Maragos and Tyler and

Baylie Moravec;

great-grandchildren,

Bayne and Everly Sul-

livan; daughter-in-law,

Ching Maragos, Las Vegas,

NV; sisters-in-law, Bar-

bara Houllis, Brea, CA

and Loretta

Houllis-Santana, Placen-

tia, CA; and numerous

nieces, nephews and

cousins.

Rena was preceded in

death by: her parents;

husband, Samuel Mara-

gos; and her brothers,

Stan and James Houllis.

Orthodox Rite of Litur-

gy: Friday, June 9, 2017,

at 10:00 a.m. at St. Peter

the Aleut Orthodox

Church, Minot, ND.

Interment: Rosehill

Memorial Park, Minot,

ND.

Visitation: Thursday

from 1 to 7 p.m. at

Thompson-Larson Fun-

eral Home, Minot, ND.

Trisagion Service:

Thursday at 7:00 pm at

Thompson-Larson Fun-

eral Home, Minot, ND.

Memorials: are pre-

ferred to St. Peter the

Aleut Orthodox Church or

the Crowell Memorial

Home of Blair, NE

(www.crowellhome.com).

Those wishing to sign

the online register and

share memories may ac-

cess the online obituaries

section at

(www.thompson

larson.com).