Obituary of Yeoryia Megremis

Yeoryia Megremis, contralto, vocal coach and tenant activist died on Saturday, Nov. 9, at Mt. Sinai-St. Luke’s Hospital in Manhattan. She was 84 but, being a performer, would probably have preferred to keep that detail to herself. She was born Georgia Magrames in Mishawaka, Ind., on Feb. 5, 1935, the youngest child of William Magrames and Helen Lambropoulos Magrames, both of whom had immigrated to the United States from Daras, Greece, in the Peloponnese region and settled in Indiana. Helen Magrames was a homemaker and her husband’s business ventures included running a confectionery in Mishawaka and ultimately working at the Bendix Corp. A graduate of Mishawaka High School, she studied at De Pauw University and graduated from the Indiana University School of Music with a B.A., She continued her studies at the National Conservatory of Music in Athens. When she began her musical career in the 1960s, she changed her name to Yeoryia Megremis, a transliteration she considered more faithful to the original Greek, and moved to New York City, where she lived in the Ansonia Hotel near Lincoln Center for many years. The historic Beaux-Arts building, once a haven for musicians, became a landlord-tenant battleground for many years, and Yeoryia told stories about her role on the front line of the activists in the days of lawsuits and rent strikes. Highlights of her career included a 1966 debut recital at Carnegie Hall, and a benefit concert she presented in South Bend, Ind., for the Valley of Promise Foundation for handicapped children. For several summers she performed in summer productions in Rome, N.Y., playing such roles as the Mother Abbess in “The Sound of Music.” In her later years she coached young singers and rented out studio space to aspiring musicians. Yeoryia, known as Yoyo to some of her friends, was the last surviving member of her generation. Her brother, Louis, and sisters Esther Magrames and Mary Verongos preceded her in death. She is survived by three nieces: Sophia Verongos Anderson and her husband, Pete Anderson, of Mishawaka; Dina Weston, of Overland Park, Kan., and her children Andrew, Alex and Anastasia Weston; and Helen Verongos and her husband, Craig Winston, and children Zane, Clare and Davyn Winston of Montclair, N.J.; and a nephew, George Verongos, and his wife, Zoë Verongos, of Seattle. Funeral services are planned for 10 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 14, at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church, 302 West 91st Street, with the Very Rev. Archimandrite Father Chrysostomos Gilbert officiating. In lieu of flowers the family asks that memorial donations be sent to the church or to the Greek Orthodox National Philoptochos Society. To plant Memorial Trees in memory of Yeoryia Megremis, please click here to visit our Sympathy Store.