Obituary of Anna Lyrist

ANNA LYRIST TRIBUTE Our beautiful sister Anna Lyrist was born on March 16, 1953 in New York City. She was the first of four children of John and Sophia Lyrist and grew up in Washington Heights, NYC. Anna was named after her beloved grandmother Anna "Yiayia", whom she adored and loved the most during her years in Washington Heights. One of Anna’s greatest achievements was her winning the Demosthenes Oratorical contest for excellence in speech. Those of us who know Anna, know this was a natural honor for her to receive. The speech was titled "My Home, My School, My Church", and reflected the life of a Greek-American living in a NYC community. A big part of Anna’s life was her upbringing as a Greek-American, and the influence the Karpathian culture had upon her life growing up in NYC. Although Anna did not visit the Dodecanese Island until age 16, she and her siblings had close relatives there and always maintained contact through the years. Anna attended St. Spyridon Greek Orthodox parochial school and was part of its first graduating class through eighth grade. She then went on to Walton High School in the Bronx with many of her St. Spyridon classmates. Beautiful, sociable Anna, was very active in Greek-American associations, and was even a runner up in a Greek-American beauty pageant in NYC. The family has pictures of Anna from beauty pageants, Greek parade floats and parties, but she was most proud of her graduation from Lehman College and later Columbia University Teacher's College. She loved learning and teaching. A student once said at graduation "I thank above all my teachers, Anna Lyrist, who helped me get here". She taught in both public and private schools, but enjoyed college level teaching the most over the years. Anna taught ESL and was also an Adjunct Professor of Spanish in several Universities. Anna also completed a certificate in Spanish language & literature in Barcelona, Spain. She was very knowable of the Spanish and many world cultures. As a professor, Anna cared about her students and stayed in touch with them. She met her former husband William Palomino as colleagues in school and remained close family friends through the years with his extended family, especially her stepdaughter Cathy Palomino Valadez. So many people will always remember Anna’s laugh, and dedication to teaching students; this was who she was. As many of us knew, Anna faced health and other challenges over the years, which became very challenging for her to handle. But through all her struggles, her loving and fighting spirit was always steadfast and helped her cope during these moments. It is because of this, we hoped she'd recover from the coronavirus, but even with all the best treatments, this invisible enemy could not be conquered. We thank all who prayed and cared about Anna. There was more she hoped to do, and she always encouraged others to be their best and never give up. We believe she'll keep on doing just that, even from above…. God Bless all, Zoi se sas.. Lyristakis Family ************************ Dear friend, A life lived with love deserves to be remembered with love. Please join us for a digital live stream of Anna’s funeral service on Friday, May 15th at Noon via Zoom. In accompaniment of the recording of Anna’s service which will be held outdoors at Riverdale Funeral Home, we are also streaming in a virtual format in hopes that everyone that knew and loved Anna will be able to attend. Join us as we remember and honor Anna’s life together. Friday May 15th, 12 pm https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7185455323 Meeting ID: 718 545 5323 We will use Zoom, a video conferencing tool that allows us to gather all at once. Please join the virtual memorial with others whom you are safely able to join together with, i.e. members of the same household can join together from one computer. There are several ways to attend: 1. Do you have a computer with a webcam and internet access? a. If yes, use your device to access https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7185455323 to join at the appointed time. b. If not, see option 2. 2. Do you have a mobile device (smartphone or tablet) with a video camera and internet access? a. If yes, use your device to access https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7185455323 to join at the appointed time. b. If not, see option 3. 3. Dial in by traditional phone (audio only) a. If yes, dial in at for audio only Dial by your location +1 646 558 8656 US (New York) Meeting ID: 718 545 5323 Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kkdBmOU5D All participants will be muted on entry and only the hosts screen will be shared. Should an unexpected technical event disallow for the stream to proceed, we will record the service in full and at a later time provide you with a private YouTube link. Yours in love, Anna’s Family