Pauline Englesson

Pauline Frangos Englesson, formerly of Ames, Iowa, and Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania, fell asleep in the Lord on October 28, 2020.

Born in Fort Dodge, Iowa, the daughter of Peter Frangos and Eleni Koutromanis Frangos, she graduated from Ames High School with the class of 1939.  She was a founding partner, together with her father and her sister Mary, of Frangos Restaurant in Ames. In 1959, Pauline married George A. Englesson, a graduate of Iowa State University (M.S. 1959, Ph.D 1965). They lived in Ames and in Cincinnati before settling in Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania.

Pauline was a gifted artist and designer who excelled at any creative pursuit she attempted, from painting, sculpture and garden design to Community Theater and directing Sunday School Christmas pageants. She designed and oversaw the construction of her home in Huntingdon Valley.  She was a tireless worker in every church to which she belonged, especially St. Stephen Orthodox Church in Philadelphia, where she was a 46 year member. She had an active and generous spirit and was never happier than when she saw a need she might be able to fulfill. Known at many a pierogi party as “the Big Dipper,” she could dip out pierogi filling three times faster than anyone else, and she was also famous for her wickedly delicious baklava.

Pauline loved gardens, horses, ballroom dancing, old movies, and good company. She played a mean game of gin rummy and could out-shop her daughter well into her 80s. She was a loving and beloved mother to her only daughter, Margret and the devoted wife of her husband George.

Pauline was predeceased by her parents, Peter Frangos and Eleni Koutromanis Frangos, her brothers Christos, Evstathios (Steve), and Evangelos (Angelo), and by her sister Chrisothemi (Mary) Frangos. She is survived by George Englesson, her husband of 61 years, her daughter Margret Mary, and nieces and nephews Helen Wells (Paul), Stephanie Banks (Dan), Kris Tigges (Eli), Lisa Frangos, Peter Frangos, Eleni Maloney (Bob), Cathy Swan, Thomas Swan (Susan), Margaret Christine Marino (Larry) and Lisa Crawley (Steve).

Relatives and friends are invited to her viewing on Sunday at 6 PM at St. Stephen Orthodox Cathedral.  Parastas Prayers will be sung at 7 PM.  Her funeral will be held on Monday at 9 AM at St. Stephen's with Requiem Services sung at 10 AM. 

Friends may call also from 5:00 until 7:00 P.M. on Thursday, November 5, 2020 at Holy Transfiguration Orthodox Church, 621 Kellogg Ave., Ames, Iowa, where there will be Trisagion Prayers sung at 7:00 P.M. Burial prayers will be sung at 9:30 A.M. on Friday, November 6, 2020 at the church, followed by burial in Story Memorial Gardens. 

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