In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her memory to St. Athanasius The Great Greek Orthodox Church, 4 Appleton St., Arlington, MA 02476; or to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke at NINDS/NIH Memorial Donation, Financial Management Branch, Bldg. 31, Room 8A34, 31 Center Drive, MSC 2540, Bethesda, MD 20892-2546.By
A funeral service will be held Friday, June 21, at 10 a.m. in St. Athanasius Greek Orthodox Church in Arlington for Maria (Metaxas) Koufos ’03, a former employee in the University’s Information Technology division and an avid volunteer for many causes, who died June 18. She was 58.
Visiting hours will take place at St. Athanasius tomorrow, June 20, from 4 to 8 p.m.
Mrs. Koufos, a Cambridge native and Newton resident, joined Boston College in 1990 and went on to serve as coordinator for IT’s Office and Training Center and later director of the Student Learning and Support Services Center, among other positions, before leaving the University in 2005.
A passion for altruism guided Mrs. Koufos, who won the BC Community Service Award in 1995. “If I see a need, I don’t think about it, I just jump in and help out,” she said in an interview with Boston College Chronicle after being named the winner.
She organized a hat-and-mitten drive for children in BC’s Campus School, the Shriner’s Hospital for Crippled Children, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, and other organizations. Mrs. Koufos helped build the Campus School playground, volunteered at the Special Olympics when the event took place at BC and served as a United Way representative. She also coordinated various trips for University employees as vice chair and secretary of the Staff Advisory Senate, and provided notary public services free to anyone in the BC community.
Mrs. Koufos was active in St. Athanasius, running festivals for children, and put her fluency in Greek to work by interpreting for Greek-speaking patients in area hospitals.
“Maria was a total people person, family-oriented, very funny and loving,” said Academic Advising Center Assistant Director Stella Primpas, a childhood friend of Mrs. Koufos. “She was so good to so many people, and I will miss her very much.”
Mrs. Koufos earned a bachelor’s degree in 2003 from the Woods College of Advancing Studies. Her daughter Stephanie Quill was a 1999 graduate of the Lynch School of Education.
The daughter of Presbytera Georgia Metaxas and the late Rev. Dr. Arthur J. Metaxas, Mrs. Koufos is survived by her husband George; another daughter, Gena Robinson; brothers John and Nicholas Metaxas and sister Kathy Ypsilantis; grandchildren Katerina and Sophia Quill; and many nieces and nephews.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her memory to St. Athanasius The Great Greek Orthodox Church, 4 Appleton St., Arlington, MA 02476; or to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke at NINDS/NIH Memorial Donation, Financial Management Branch, Bldg. 31, Room 8A34, 31 Center Drive, MSC 2540, Bethesda, MD 20892-2546.