Maria "Mary" Laros

Maria “Mary” Laros, 95, of late Joliet, Illinois, and a lifelong resident of Champaign, Illinois, passed away peacefully on Monday, March 9, 2026, at Lightways Hospice, surrounded by her loving family.

Born on March 27, 1930, in Arvanitokerasia, Arcadia, Greece, Mary carried the values of faith, family, and resilience through a life marked by early hardship. She lost her father young and grew up amid the turmoil of war-torn Greece in the 1940s. These experiences taught her the importance of familial support, community, and a strong work ethic. After immigrating to the United States, she married John Laros in 1952. The couple shared ten years together before his sudden death left her to raise their three children alone. With quiet determination, she supported her family financially, emphasized academic success and spiritual growth, learned English alongside her children, and guided them through their shared grief. She often described her survival through life’s adversities as God’s will.

Mary’s home was a place of warmth and welcome, reflecting the Greek tradition that pairs life’s bitterness with its sweetness. She hosted countless nieces and nephews for extended summer stays filled with cooking, storytelling, and lasting memories. A seamstress by trade, she worked at Bergner’s for more than twenty years. She found joy in cooking, sewing, and especially gardening, where her flower beds, vegetable gardens, and yard flourished under her care. Her deepest pride remained her family.

A devoted member of Three Hierarchs Greek Orthodox Church in Champaign, Mary served for many years with the Ladies’ Philoptochos Society and became a spiritual anchor for the Orthodox Christian Fellowship at the University of Illinois. For over forty years she opened her home to college students, offering breakfast after services and motherly guidance. She lived to see the next generation—children of those same students—return to thank her. Her faith, character, and quiet service touched many lives across generations.

Mary is survived by her children, Katina (Nicholas) Macris and George (Maria) Laros; her daughter-in-law, Antonia Laros; her five grandchildren, Maria Frances Macris, and Maria, Panayiota, Yianni, and Demitra Laros; her sister, Dimitra Peppas; her sister-in-law, Panayiota Langas; her goddaughter, Linda Krikos; and many cousins, nieces, and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband, John; her son, Louis; her parents, Christos and Christina (née Koukos) Langas; her brother, Vasilios Langas; her sister, Sotiria Apostolas; and her brothers-in-law, John Apostolas and George Peppas.

May her memory be eternal.