Steroula Colchamiro

[from a book by JH & JK:]

Steroula married Asher Colchamiro son of Yesula Colchamiro and Rachel Galanos in September 1903 in Ioannina (Janina) GREECE. He was a cousin of her mother Sarah, on the Galanos side of the family. Asher had been apprenticed to a merchant friend of his father, whose business was in Delvino, Albania, a port city, north west of Janina. There he learned to be a manager of a small textile business. Asher traveled back and forth from Delvino to Janina very often.

When Steroula and Asher first married they lived in Delvino, but Steroula grew homesick so Asher moved her in with his parents in the Kastro in Janina. Soon after his father Yesula died of a stroke and his mother Rachel decided to sell the house and move to America. Asher was angry with his mother for wanting to leave so soon. However, he decided to buy the house.

On the 4th of July 1905 they had their first child, a girl they named

Rachel Colchamiro.

After their second child, a son named

Jess Colchamiro, born the 31st of December 1907, Asher wanted to stop trying to run a business in Delvino and have a family in Janina. So he decided to start his own business in Janina. Meanwhile, Steroula was busy having more children, and taking care of various relatives that needed her care.

Nina Sarina Sally Colchamiro was born on the 1st of April 1910, followed by

Eftimia Colchamiro in 1911. Unfortunately she died suddenly when she was only 18 months old in 1913. The last four children were sons.

Louis (Eliezer) Colchamiro was born on the 22nd of November 1912.

Matthew Colchamiro was born on May 1st, 1914.

Leon Colchamiro was born on the 11th of July 1916 and

David Colchamiro, their last child was born in September 1st, 1917.

After a while Asher felt he had made enough money to move to a bigger house. So in 1916 he rented a large house outside the Kastro, in Levidyot on the "big Street" Megla Rouga. Sarah Galanos Eliezer (Steroula's mother), who was already living with them in the Kastro, since her husband died in 1902, came to live with them. There was a very large yard with the well in the center. Fruit trees and vines for grapes were in abundance. The kitchen in the back of the house was always in use.

    When Matthew was just a little boy and climbed up on the wall of the well, and looked as if he was about to fall in.  Steroula told the rest of the kids to be very quite and carefully snuck up behind him and grabbed him and saved him from falling in.

    Steroula was a good nurse as well.  She had many an opportunities to nurse family back to health.  When Dinah, one of Asher's married sisters, who was living in Paramythia with her family, had to come to Janina, to have her leg amputated, she stayed with Steroula.  Also Rose the daughter of Malka, another sister of Asher, who had gone all the way to the United States, only to be rejected at Ellis Island stayed with them till was eventually healed enough to go back to New York with her family.

    Things went very well for this family till the summer of 1919.  At this time Asher took sick with a burst appendices.  Even though the doctors operated on him with the best of care they could give at that time, he still died of infection.

    His brothers Matthew and Leon (Yehuda) came to Janina to help Steroula wind up the business and convinced her to come to America with her large family.  So she had a big auction, with the help of a cousin. Then she got passports for everyone, including her mother Sarah, and left for Piraeus, a port city in Greece. It took them 30 days, aboard ship to get to New York on the ship "S.S. Pannonia".  

They arrived on October 16th, 1920 at Ellis Island and happily everyone passed. Asser's brother Leon and some cousins came to meet them. There were nine people in all, seven children and two adults. So they were split up between Leon's, Matathia's and Elias's family till they got there own apartment on 15th street in Harlem. Sarah stayed with her son Isaac Eliezer till then.

    Life was not easy in those days.  In Janina before Asher died they were very comfortable.  They had a servant to do the hard work and all the money they wanted.  But in New York it was hard to make a living, especially for Steroula who never had to work before.  Rachel had finished her schooling in Janina so she went right to work.  She worked for her Uncle Matathias sewing aprons and pajamas.  Jess went to work.  He worked for his Uncle Isaac in the hat business.  As soon as Nina finished high school she also went to work in the Hat industry.  Louis, Matthew, Leon and David all went to school.    "Kareea" (a word meaning Madame with a lot of respect in Greek) Steroula was loved by everyone.  Daughter Rachel relates: "Right downstairs was a Kosher butcher who would save the best cuts of meat for her and when my mother was short on cash would always trust her and tell her not to worry and give her meat anyway."

David, the youngest, had cardiac problems. While attending kindergarten he took sick and died two weeks later at Mount Sinai on the 17th of July 1925. This was a terrible time for this family for only four days before, on July 13th, Louis was hit by a taxi. He suffered compound fractures of the right femur (leg), and had to stay a miserable nine weeks in the hospital.

In 1928 Steroula's family moved to Brooklyn. They stayed very close with the rest of the Colchamiro Clan, especially the Kaplan family. They had many parties were the cousins would get together for "stay over."

Leon and Jesse never married. Leon always lived with his mother, Steroula, in the apartment near Brighton Beach, and helped her in any way he could throughout her life.

Steroula was active till her final illness of October 10th 1972. She died in Brooklyn on the 5th of December 1972. She was 90 years old and lived a full life, surrounded by the family she loved. Steroula (Eliezer) Colchamiro was the anchor that kept the family together all her life.