Sonia Pelekis

Sonia Pelekis, 88, of Westchester County, NY, passed away peacefully with her family by her side on Saturday, April 12, 2025. Sonia was born the youngest of eight children to George and Mary Megalogenis Bardis of Keene, NY, both formerly of Greece. Sonia graduated from Keene High School in 1954; in her senior year she was Editor-in-Chief of the KHS yearbook, Salmagundi. She attended the University of Connecticut and after graduating, moved to the NYC area where she was a social worker, and later an elementary school teacher. In 1963, Sonia married Andrew F. Pelekis in New York City, and they lived in the London Terrace apartment building in the Chelsea neighborhood of NYC, where the Pelekis family flower shop was also located. They lived in London Terrace until 1969 when they moved to Haworth, NJ with their three children. Sonia was a loving aunt to her twenty-one nieces and nephews (and another seven from Andy’s side after they were married), who looked up to her and enjoyed visiting her in NYC. She and Andy mentored kids from the Chelsea neighborhood, and many of them and family members got their first jobs working at London Terrace Flower Shop. They also helped newly immigrated family members acclimate to life in the US. Sonia loved spending time with family, especially visiting her siblings in Keene. She enjoyed gardening and always had a house full of plants and flowers. She ran London Terrace Flower Shop with Andy until his death in 2006, and she retired in 2008. She cherished the friends she made in Haworth and the community that surrounded her there. Sonia is survived by her children Karen Pelekis (Jim), Jodi Shearer (Karl) and Taki Pelekis (Kirsten). She was known as Grammy to her grandchildren: Nicholas & Stephanie Blackwood; Alec, Zachary (Emily), and Kayla Shearer; Andreas & Anika Pelekis. Sonia was predeceased by her parents; her husband Andy; siblings Evelyn Bacopulos, Velma Rowe, Marjorie Kanakis, John Bardis, Katherine Maydwell, Helen Brountas, and James Bardis. Per Sonia’s wishes, a private funeral service was held. Those wishing to remember Sonia in a special way may donate in her memory to St. George Greek Orthodox Church in Keene, NH; the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society; or the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.