Anastacia (Ann) Stathos of Cambridge, a retired elementary teacher, died of cancer on April 28. She taught fourth grade at the Mary Lee Burbank Elementary School for 45 years, and retired in 1993.
Known to generations of students as “Miss Stathos,” she was a strict disciplinarian who instilled in her students a life-long love of learning. Over the years, students would often return to visit her at the Burbank School to share their news about college, jobs and their families. She touched the lives of more than 1,300 students during her teaching career, and was the recipient of many teaching awards.
She loved traveling, reading and was especially proud of her Greek heritage. Her parents immigrated from Greece in the early 1900s and settled in Cambridge, where Miss Stathos grew up in a tightly-knit Greek family and community. Her father founded the Sts. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church in Cambridge and owned a candy shop in Central Square.
Miss Stathos is a graduate of Cambridge Latin High School and attended Lesley College and Boston University. She is survived by two sisters, Christine of Wellesley Hills, Mary of South Yarmouth, and two brothers, Charles of Lincoln and John of Charlottesville, Va. Another sister, Julia died in 2002. She is also survived by several nieces, nephews, grand-nieces and grand-nephews.
Funeral service will be held at 11 am Friday at Sts. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church. Burial will be at the Mount Auburn Cemetery, immediately after the service.
