Alumni News

Reverend Dr. Robert G. Stephanopoulos (STH ’70, GRS ’70)

By sthalum July 7th, 2024 in Alumni/ae Deaths

This obituary was originally posted by Yurch Funeral Home and can be found here.

Rev. Dr. Robert G. Stephanopoulos, PHD, passed away at the age of 89 on June 19, 2024 after a lifetime of service to the Greek Orthodox Church. Just last year, his beloved wife, Presvytera Nikki fell asleep in the Lord. Father and Presvytera were known and admired across the country, making an impact in every community they served.

Father Bob, as he was affectionately called, was a respected, dedicated, loyal and well-loved clergyman, who loved each community he served. Clevelanders know him from his service as Dean of Saints Constantine and Helen Cathedral in Cleveland Heights from 1974-1982, and he returned to this loving community after retiring from twenty-five years of service as Dean of the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in New York City.

Father Robert was born in Neohorion, Elias Greece in November 1934 and followed his father George into the priesthood. He met Pres. Nikki at a GOYA conference in 1954, when he was a seminarian at the Holy Cross School of Theology. They were married in June 1958 and began their ministry at Saint Demetrios Church in Fall River MA, after a year of study in Athens. Their four children --Anastasia (Mother Agapia), George, Marguarite and Andrew were all born in Fall River, and in 1966 the young family moved to the Church of Our Savior in Rye, New York.

In addition to his pastoral work, Father Robert had a distinguished career as a theologian and ecumenist. After receiving his PHD from Boston University, he published a study analyzing the ecumenical relations of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese and served as the chief ecumenical officer for the archdiocese from 1970- 75. He also held several senior positions at the National Council of Churches.

Over more than half a century in the ministry, Father Robert touched countless lives. He counseled young couples contemplating marriage, celebrated their weddings and baptisms, cried with them at the funerals of loved ones. His legacy lives through them, his surviving children Mother Agapia, George, Marguarite and Andrew – his daughter in law, Alexandra Wentworth, and his grandchildren Elliott and Harper Stephanopoulos.

Funeral services will be held at Sts. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Cathedral, 3352 Mayfield Road, Cleveland Hts., OH on Wednesday, June 26 at 11:00 am. There will be a Divine Liturgy before the funeral at 9:00 am. A traditional Makaria luncheon will be offered at the Cathedral following the burial at Lake View Cemetery. The family will receive visitors at the Cathedral on Tuesday, June 25 from 4:00 pm – 8:00 pm with the Trisagion service at 7:30 pm. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Sts. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Cathedral Foundation.

Live streaming of the service will be available at https://www.youtube.com/stsconstantine

MAY HIS MEMORY BE ETERNAL.

Mrs. Jean S. Hilliard (STH ’92)

By sthalum July 7th, 2024 in Alumni/ae Deaths

This obituary was originally posted by Dignity Memorial and can be found here.

Jean Judson Squire Hilliard, beloved wife of Hugh Conway Hilliard, Jr., died on Monday, April 29, 2024, at home, in Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts, cared for to the end by a faithful team of family and caregivers. She was 86.

Jean was born on August 30, 1937, the first daughter to Marjorie Hurlburt Squire and the Rev. Roger Squire. She and her sisters, Pat and Carol, grew up in the sweet and simple goodness of being the minister’s daughters in the small town of Red Bank, New Jersey. Her family’s first trip to the Silver Bay YMCA in 1945 began 79 years of joyful August weeks on Lake George in New York.

Jean was a religious studies major at Vassar College, graduating in 1959. In the fall of her junior year, she met Hugh when he came to the Thanksgiving Sunday service at her father’s Methodist church, and she invited him home for lunch. So started a 65-year marriage rich with love, trust, kindness, and mutual respect.

Living first in Massachusetts for Hugh’s career in computer engineering, Jean and Hugh had three children—Marjorie, Conway and Jeff. Later settling for twelve years in Newport News, Virginia, Jean happily committed herself to raising a family and working as an elementary school librarian. When their children finished high school and left home, and following a three-year stint as the book-mobile librarian in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, Jean and Hugh returned to Massachusetts.

Jean earned a library science degree from Simmons College and a Master of Divinity at Boston University. Combining her life-long pleasure in books, education, and the spiritual journey, Jean worked as the librarian for the Swedenborg School of Religion—a job that brought her meaningful community and professional satisfaction.

Jean allowed herself to be matured by tragedy, the most piercing of which was the 1991 death of her daughter, Marjorie, who was then a new mother to Megan and Zach. Jean followed her spiritual path with restless earnestness and intellectual curiosity, flowing from the root Christianity of her childhood, through feminist theology, Unitarianism, Eastern Spirituality, and back to an expanded faith.

When Jean retired to Cape Cod, she founded a neighborhood book club, walked most days to the pier at Gray’s Beach, and served on the boards of the Cape Cod Museum of Art and the Yarmouth Port library. She created an abundance of memory books threading her family’s history and expansion, and was committed to the practices of sketching, journaling, and gratitude. At the CCMA, Jean nurtured the museum library into a collection of 1500 catalogued books on American Art.

Jean paid attention to the state of the world and eagerly acted in direct, local and personal ways to improve people’s lives. Steered by her sense of generous responsibility and held by the tender belongings of marriage and family, Jean honored the richness of her own life, convinced that what truly matters is how one lives life, here & now. The last years of Jean’s life were heavily shaped by her long, slow process of diminishment through dementia.

Jean Squire Hilliard was predeceased by her husband, Hugh; her dear sister, Patricia Louise Squire; and her daughter, Marjorie Hilliard Hodges. Jean is survived by her sister, Carol Squire Hay, her sons, Conway Hilliard and Jeff Hilliard; her grandchildren, Megan Hodges, Zach Hodges, Alex Hilliard, Holly Hilliard and Phineas Hilliard; their partners; her nieces and nephews; and her great granddaughter, Artemis Hilliard-Kuykendall-LeBerth.