Rita (Areti) Andreopoulos was born to Elpetha (Kamposioris) and Nicholas Andreopoulos on May 26, 1933. She grew up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan near her father's flower shop The Garden Florist on Broadway just below Columbia University. After attending PS 165, she graduated from PS 101 and Forest Hills High School, then took classes at NYU while working at Anderson Florist, the family’s shop in Forest Hills.
She then worked for many years at the Inmont Ink Company, starting as a secretary and over time advancing to International Liasson, while Inmont became BASF. She held positions in business open to few women, traveling to connect technical colleagues in many countries, including Brazil, Italy, China, Germany, Japan and Australia.
Rita was predeceased by her parents and her beloved older sister Kiki (Andreopoulos) Caviris, brother-in-law Nick Caviris, and cousins Dina (Andreopoulos) Hanges and Gus Andreopoulos. She is survived by her sister and brother-in-law Helen (Andreopoulos) and Paul Cocotos, nieces Hope (Caviris) Frudakis, Athena (Cocotos) White and her husband Neil, nephews Charles Caviris and Tom Cocotos and his partner Jackson Taylor, her cousins Georgia Gilas and Georgia Papadopoulos, and godson Spero Andreopoulos. She is also survived by grand nieces and nephews Nicole Caviris Swepston (Andy), Michael Frudakis, Kiki Frudakis Danie (Kyle), Elaina White Herpel (Tim) and Bobby White. In addition, she is survived by her dearest and most loyal friend Carol Whitehouse in the UK, Bill Hansen in NJ, Rodney Urquhart in Australia, Nancy Ventrella in NJ, and Ernst Wegner in Germany, as well as many other devoted friends and relatives in the United States, Greece and around the world.
Rita died on Thursday, May 2, 2024. Visitation will be held at Hunt Stellato Funeral Home, 1601 Palisade Ave, Fort Lee NJ on Wednesday, May 8, 2024 from 4-8pm. Funeral Service will be held at The Metropolitan Cathedral of St. John The Theologian, 353 E Clinton Ave, Tenafly NJ on Thursday, May 9, 2024 at 10am. Interment will follow at Maple Grove Cemetery, 127-15 Kew Gardens Rd, Queens NY. Donations can be made in Rita's memory to: Cathedral of St. John the Theologian 353 East Clinton Avenue Tenafly, NJ. 07670.
