Aspasia Booras Kitchens

Aspasia B. Kitchens, 81, was born on April 23, 1932, in Fresno, California and passed away in Los Angeles on February 19, 2014. Trisagion and funeral services were held at Saint Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral on Friday, February 21 and Saturday, February 22 , respectively. She was laid to rest at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, CA, alongside her beloved mother Vassiliki Stathoulopoulou Booras Koch and brother George Booras.

Aspasia everlastingly will be remembered for her very unique ability to reveal and reflect God's loving kindness in all her interactions with her family, friends, acquaintances and everyone she met. Her steadfast faith in our Lord compelled her to love everyone just as He loves us, and to live her life according to His commandments. For 54 years, she sang as a first soprano in the Saint Sophia Cathedral choir in Los Angeles, offering her powerful, melodic and angelic voice in praise and thanksgiving to God. She was a centerpiece in the choir, singing various solos during the Divine Liturgy and at weddings, and traveling with the choir to numerous conventions and concerts throughout California. She shared her remarkable love of cooking with her family and friends, preparing sumptuous meals and desserts including traditional Greek, American, Italian, Mexican and other cuisine for all guests to her home throughout the year.

Her unwavering faith and profound trust in God empowered her to fight and survive advanced breast cancer for nearly 12 years, and to achieve two remissions, including a three-year period prior to her passing when numerous doctors were convinced she would not live. She was tremendously proud of her Greek heritage and would remind her family that "The Greeks never give up" even during the most difficult times of her struggle. She also believed in the transformative power of prayer and would recite a long list of the names of her family and friends each night, asking the Lord to administer to them according to their individual needs. She will always be remembered as a tender-hearted, kind soul with sparkling blue-green eyes and a radiant smile that drew everyone close to her.

While her passing has left an enormous void in the lives of her family, we are assured that heaven's choir has welcomed another first soprano and that she has been reunited with her parents and brother in eternal bliss, free of the pain, sorrow and sickness of this world. Apsasia is survived by Russell Kitchens, her beloved husband of 52 years, her son Christopher and brother Steven.

May her memory be eternal.