Niovi Constantinides

Niovi Constantinides died on August 11, 2022, at the age of 84 of a brain glioblastoma that she bravely fought for over 12 months.  Chef, artist, wife and mother, Niovi was treasured by her husband Spiros, married for 64 years, and her children Minas Constantinides of Austin, Texas, and Doris Christelis, of Sudbury, Massachusetts.

The eldest of three sisters, Niovi was educated in Athens and in Thessaloniki, Greece. She left Greece in 1962 with her 1-year-old son Minas to join her husband in Lansing, Michigan where he was studying at Michigan State University.  After receiving his PhD, they moved their family to Rhode Island settling in Narragansett in 1968 where she lived in Bonnet Shores for over 50 years enjoying the ocean, the flowers and her family.

Niovi was well known for her delicious cooking, feeding dozens of URI graduate students, faculty, and family relatives and friends for many decades.  She was also a talented watercolor artist and enjoyed painting poignant landscapes and even one of her husband dancing a Greek zebekiko. She was one of the founding faculty wives of the URI International Coffee House where she was able to feed and give solace to the dozens of URI international students studying far from home. Later in her life she worked alongside her friends at Carty Realty.

Niovi was beloved by hundreds of people she met while living all over the world. From Chile and Greece to Saudi Arabia and Brazil, she immersed herself in local cultures and learned their ethnic cuisines. Her annual Christmas letters full of the family’s news were enjoyed world-wide and will be sorely missed, as will her sage advice and gentle smile.

She leaves behind her husband Spiros, son Minas Constantinides and his wife Melissa, daughter Doris Christelis and her husband Gary, and five grandsons — Michael, Adam, Tino, Alexi and Dimitri — who each are lucky enough to have inherited some of her unique characteristics.  May her memory be eternal.

She was a member of the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church, in Cranston, RI.

Her Funeral Mass will take place at 1:00 pm on Monday, August 15, 2022, at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church, 175 Oaklawn Avenue, Cranston. Burial will follow in New Fernwood Cemetery, Kingston. Visiting Hours are kindly omitted. Everyone is asked to go directly to the church.  Her services was livestreamed and may be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCldHg9Yki4s99UaD6Au0DQQ

In lieu of flowers please make donations to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital using the following link: http://giftfunds.stjude.org/niovi.