In Memorium
+ Diane Georgene (Bruskas) Berry 1959-2022
It is with profound sadness, yet with hope in the Resurrection that we share the news of the passing of Diane Georgene (Bruskas) Berry, 62, who fell asleep in the Lord in the early hours of January 7, 2022, after a short but valiant battle against COVID. While this disease may have taken her from us in this world, the bright light she brought into each of our lives will shine on through her family, friends and all those who knew and loved her.
Diane was born on December 2, 1959 in Joliet, Illinois. In 1972 her family relocated to Tempe, Arizona where she attended school, graduating as a proud “Padre” from Marcos de Niza High School, class of 1978. She was very involved in the journalism department in high school and was editor of the school yearbook “Libra de Oro”.
She worked in the banking and insurance fields, and her life would lead to many adventures – living in New York, Houston, Pennsylvania, and even returning to her childhood hometown of Joliet, before settling back in Arizona.
Diane loved cooking and baking, and she was known for her delicious treats – fudge, peppermint bark, thumbprint cookies, and her yiayia’s recipe for Chocolate Balls. She never showed up anywhere empty-handed, always bringing a homemade treat to her family and friends. She loved football and was a diehard Pittsburgh Steelers fan. Friendships for Diane were never fleeting; rather she retained them through all chapters of her life, building a tapestry of faithful friends who journeyed through each day with her.
Growing up at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral, Diane was active in the youth group, she was part of the original YAL (Young Adult League) movement in the church, and taught Sunday School for several years.
Being a mother brought Diane great fulfillment, and she loved nurturing and teaching her children. She raised three independent successful children, all of whom will miss the daily presence of their mother, but they will carry her love and the many life-lessons she taught them throughout their lives. With the arrival of her granddaughters, Delilah and Cheyenne, Diane’s heart grew even bigger with love and she treasured every moment with those precious girls.
Diane is survived by her three children – Daniel, Sarah French (Josh), and Deborah Nasser (Bakil), her cherished granddaughters Delilah and Cheyenne Berry, her loving parents Chris and Rita Bruskas, sisters Presvytera Denise Gilbert and Kristen Bruskas, many beloved nieces and nephews who adored their “Thea Di Di” – V. Rev. Archimandrite Chrysostomos Gilbert, Christina Kakis (Stephan), Christian Gilbert, Andrew Gilbert, Rev. Father Aaron Gilbert (Presvytera Kyriaka), Anthony Gilbert (Rhea), and her great-nieces and great-nephews – Angelo and Sia Kakis, and Matthew, Maria and Panagiotis Gilbert. She is also survived by her aunts Sylvia (Thanos) Trout and Helen Bruskas, uncles Tony Bruskas and Spiro Bruskas, and numerous cousins. Also surviving is the father of her children, Douglas Berry. Diane was predeceased by her infant son Jonathan Berry, her brother-in-law Rev. Father Matthew Gilbert, and grandparents Constantinos and Constantina Bruskas, and Nicholas and Panagiota Thanos.
Services for Diane will be held on Wednesday, January 12, 2022 at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral, 1973 E. Maryland Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85016. Visitation will begin at 9:00 a.m. and the Funeral service will be prayed at 10:00 a.m. The interment will follow at Paradise Memorial Gardens, 9300 E. Shea Blvd., Scottsdale, AZ. The funeral will be available for viewing on livestream at https://www.facebook.com/holytrinityphx.org
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in her memory to: St. Mary’s Food Bank, 2831 N. 31st Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85009 or online at www.firstfoodbank.org. In this way, you will honor Diane’s memory by helping others in need of food, while continuing her genuine hospitality that she shared with others through her love of cooking and baking.
May her memory be eternal!
+ Peter Vatsures 1942-2020
It is with profound sadness and loss that I share with you the falling asleep of our dear Peter Vatsures. It was an unexpected passing, with no readily ascertainable reasons, early this Thursday morning (May 7th), one which so many of us never expected and can hardly fathom. We have to believe God just wanted him home.
What can we say about Peter? Devout Orthodox brother, a man with strong family values and love, proud Archon, kind and caring friend, devoted church musician, willing servant. All these make his loss feel even more devastating.
Most of you knew him for his devotion to bringing you the Liturgical Guidebook each year, for 44 years in fact. He was always so grateful to Frank Desby in whose footsteps he followed in preparing the Guidebook, and he performed all the tasks involved with the utmost care and love. The thing that he loved most about this work were all the calls he would get from clergy, from directors and friends, even from church secretaries, anytime and especially as they came to the last pages of the Guidebook, needing help with ordering or having a question about some entry. Most of all, though, throughout the year, he enjoyed the many chats he had with so many of you, about your choirs, the music you were singing, how everything was going in your church music lives, how your families were doing. This was his essence.
The Church and its music were Peter’s life. He was a church musician from his earliest years, serving in the Annunciation Cathedral Choir as both a singer and as their trusted liaison to the Parish Council. He led the Choir as chairman as they hosted four MEFGOX Conventions. He advised their directors, recruited new singers, greeted visitors, and was always there ready to help. He was a regular volunteer at Annunciation’s Greek Festivals, setting up all the sound equipment and in general monitoring all the goings on, making sure everything was in order or safe. In addition, he was an altar boy, a GOYAN, and one of the top Greek dancers in the Annunciation’s troupe.
Likewise, in MEFGOX, he was a stalwart, serving in all offices except secretary and as President in 1966-67. For the last many, many years, he was the MEFGOX Treasurer; he also handled all the stewardship donations and was an active member of the Executive Board. He was MEFGOX’s cheerleader, its rock, and its wise counselor, fully dedicated, fully involved.
And at the Archdiocesan level, he was from the start, a passionate member of the National Forum of Greek Orthodox Church Musicians, traveling to Chicago and other places to meet with the founding committee that forged our national ministry in the early years of the 1970’s. After the Forum received its charter from the Archdiocese during the 1976 Clergy-Laity Congress, Peter hosted the first “official” annual meeting of this new organization in Columbus. He attended every annual meeting since, chaired its Publications Committee, and just looked forward to reuniting and meeting all the other church musicians who also attended. To me, throughout my tenure as National Chairman, he was my wise counsel, stalwart supporter, prodder, and patient sounding board. Always there, always available, always caring.
Throughout all this church service and elsewhere in his life, he was truly a genuine and caring human being. Each of us is likely remembering his smiles, his upbeat persona, his love of Greek dancing and music, his sensitivity to others, his loyalty and steadfast friendship --- and you should know how he cherished all that his friendships gave back to him!
For his service in the Church, Peter was awarded the prestigious St. Romanos Medallion for Exemplary Contributions to Church Music in the Archdiocese in 1986. Then in 2012, he was given the high honor of being named Archon Kastrinsios of the Order of St. Andrew of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
May his memory be eternal!
+ Constantine "Dean" Limberakis 1928-2019
Once again, we are feeling great sadness as we experience the loss of another giant among our church musicians this year. Today we are mourning Constantine (“Dean”) Limberakis who unexpectedly fell asleep in the Lord yesterday (Tuesday) morning after a short hospital stay over the weekend. He was 91 years old, still active, working, directing, driving, joking, until this past weekend.
It is difficult to think of all that Dean meant to us, there is so much – good and generous friend and family member, longtime choir director, loving teacher and mentor, consummate performer and producer, and also composer, guest director and clinician, classic and witty Bostonian --- all in all, a dedicated Orthodox Christian, the epitome of church musicianship at its best.
Dean was the longest serving choir director in our Archdiocese, serving almost 75 years at the helm of Orthodox choirs, both in Greek Orthodox and Antiochian parishes. Most recently, he served as Director of Music at the Annunciation Cathedral of Boston for the past 30 years. Dean also served as President of the Metropolis of Boston Federation of Church Musicians for 20 years and was more recently named its President Emeritus.
Dean was active in the leadership of the National Forum from the time he attended his first meeting with us during the Clergy-Laity Congress in Atlanta in 1989. Since then, he chaired the Awards Committee, responsible for the creation of the medals and medallions we still bestow on deserving church musicians, and other public relations products.
From the time he was appointed an Adjunct Professor in 1989 and then in 2008 as Director of Music for Hellenic College and Holy Cross, Dean served as the Forum’s liaison to the School. While there, he became a beloved mentor to the seminarians and was key to the implementation of our Graduating Seminarian Awards. He also played a significant role during the construction and completion of the National Forum Church Music Room at the Archbishop Iakovos Library. He was a Life Member of the Forum.
Dean often served the Forum as its liturgical consultant for the massed choirs which sang at many Clergy-Laity Congresses and served as Guest Director himself several times. Most recently, he completed the first liturgical setting for choirs that used the Archdiocese’s new standard English translation, which he debuted and conducted at the Nashville Clergy-Laity Congress in 2016.
For all his many good works, far too numerous to mention here, Dean was awarded the St. Romanos Medallion for Exemplary National Service in Church Music in 1992. He was also named Archon Primikirios of the Order of St. Andrew by the Archdiocese in 1997 and was the recipient of its prestigious Medals of St. Paul and St. Andrew as well as the Archbishop’s Years of Service Award for Choir Directors.
Dean’s funeral will be on Monday, June 17th at 10:00 am at the Annunciation Cathedral, 514 Parker Street in Boston. His Eminence Metropolitan Methodios will preside with Father Demetrios Tonias, Dean of the Cathedral, among others. Relatives and friends are kindly invited to attend.
Visiting hours will be on Sunday, June 16th at the Cathedral from 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm with a Trisaghion service. In lieu of flowers, donations in Dean’s memory may be made to the Cathedral. Burial will be held in Woodlawn Cemetery, Everett, MA.
Choir members who would like to sing at Dean’s funeral on Monday morning should be at the Cathedral at 9:30 am for a brief rehearsal.
Condolences may be sent to Paul Cassettari and Dean’s sisters, Andra and Carrie, at his home address: 375 Broadway SPC367, Linnfield, MA 01940.
Words cannot express our sense of profound loss – we join the many friends, clergy, seminarians, faculty and staff members, choir members and chanters who are mourning him. While we know that he has joined so many others in the choirs of angels in the heavens, we also feel how deeply we will miss his presence among us.
We say, with love, to our Dean --- well done, good and faithful servant – may your memory be eternal!
The obituary can be found at https://www.faggas.com/obituary/constantine-dean-limberakis.
The National Forum mourns the passing of National Chariman Maria Keritsis
It is with the heaviest of hearts that we let you know that our National Chairman, Maria Keritsis, fell asleep in the Lord on Wednesday, March 20th.
Maria has been an exemplar Orthodox Christian, church musician, and national leader. Since her early years as a choir member and junior choir director, Maria was always active in many activities and projects of her home parish of Sts. Constantine and Helen in Richmond, its parish council, its Philoptochos, and of course, its choir. She always gave generously of her time and talents.
For her Church Music Federation in the Metropolis of New Jersey, her leadership and dedication were evident as she served as its President, originator and administrator of its scholarship program, and organizer of many concerts, conventions, and Church Music Institutes.
Maria also had deep roots in the National Forum, starting as one of the group present with Archbishop Iakovos when the founding of the National Forum was announced in 1978, and then continuing as a delegate to Annual Meetings, serving as one of its administrative heads, and finally, in 2012, being elected as National Chairman by the Coordinating Committee of representatives from all of the Metropolises. Highlights of her tenure were how she galvanized the Oloi Mazi Team to complete their work in setting the new Synod-approved English translation of the Divine Liturgy to music and her collaboration with Father Tony Vrame of the Department of Religious Education and Metropolitan Methodios to bring the new Divine Liturgy Hymnal to fruition for the parishes. She also led Forum members in revising the instructional Hymn Series to match the new translation and also with several composers and arrangers to bring new versions of choral music that also match the new translation.
For her service in church music, Maria was awarded the Athenagoras Medal for Outstanding Metropolis Service in 2001, and just last year at the Clergy-Laity Congress in Boston, the prestigious St. Romanos Medallion for Exemplary Service in Church Music at the Archdiocesan Level.
As a sister in Christ, Maria was a church musician who understood the role and centrality of sacred Orthodox music in the worship and life of our faith and who strove to continue its traditions and legacy. We knew her as devout, gracious, sweet, and generous. We will miss her leadership, her wisdom, and her friendship tremendously.
Maria’s wish was that Memorial Donations be made to the Sts. Constantine and Helen Cathedral Building Fund.
May her memory be eternal!