Ιωαννα Γλεντζακη Βαβαγιακη – Anna Glentzakis Vavagiakis
Born: May 15 1928, Asi Gonia, Crete
Died: March 6 2000, Kounoupidiana, Crete
Anna Glentzakis Vavagiakis was born in Asi Gonia in 1928. Her mother, Maria Kostakis Glentzakis was from the nearby village of Kallikratis. Maria’s brother Iosif, a priest in Chania, helped her get a job for her sister at the Evangelistra church in Xalepa after her husband, Ioannis Glentzakis, passed away. My mother was 5 at the time. Papa Iosif Kostakis immigrated to the U.S. in 19?? and later sponsored his niece Anna and her newlywed husband John Vavagiakis for entry to the U.S. in 1956. Papa Kostakis, married to Esther Frangedis, had 7 children, all in the U.S. except for one in France.
Anna always had fun telling a story and had the most wonderful laugh.
1978
It took Anna 22 years to go back to Greece after she left in 1956. It was 1978 and she made the trip with her son Panagiotis (Peter). Her month long trip was spent in Athens, with her brother Kosta and her mother Maria, and in Crete. Her mother joined her for the trip to Crete. Anna, her mother, and her son arrived at her birth village of Asi Gonia on August 1 and spent a week.
