Anna was born on January 11, 1926 in Eustis, Florida to parents Theodore and Katherine Samaras, after they had departed from Annapolis for the greener pastures of Florida.
After four years in Eustis, the family moved again to Jersey City for a year, then to Baltimore for six months, before returning to Annapolis in or about 1932, during the height of the Great Depression. The family moved to Cornhill Street, then Dean Street, and ultimately to Calvert Street. Her father Theodore re-entered the Annapolis restaurant trade, after previously being operator and part owner of restaurants on Main Street, then a failed restaurant at the foot of West Street (foreclosed by Farmers Bank) before establishing the Park Lunch diner on Calvert Street, which had turned from a City gateway, just one block from Church Circle to the edge of the now-derelict WB&A railroad station, to degrade into a slum area after the WB&A Railroad bankruptcy of 1935.
Anna was educated completely within the Annapolis school system at Annapolis Elementary School (a.k.a. “Green Street”) and Annapolis High School, where she graduated in 1943.
Anna intially worked for her brother Nick Samaras and brother-in-law Tom Siomporas as a waitress in the S&S Restaurant ring the latter half of the 1940s decade.
S&S Restaurant Video (Youtube)
She worked for her entire professional career as a secretary at the Naval Academy, where she quickly rose to the highest administrative level on The Naval Academy staff, as the Superintendent’s Secretary. In this capacity, Anna dealt with many high-ranking US Government, military, and foreign dignitaries.Anna retired after 35 years of service.
Anna lived with and cared for her mother, Katherine (a.k.a. “Yiayia”), until Yiayia’s death at age 95. Anna was an early member of GOYA, Greek Orthodox Youth of America, and she was a founder of the local GOYA chapter at Sts. Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Church. She was also a member of the Church Council from 1968 to 1973, where she served as secretary in 1973.
Anna was very close to her Sister Georgia and her children Maria, Diana, Karena, and Tara, frequently taking her young nieces on shopping trips and other outings.
Her interests included reading, gardening, traveling, and cooking for her family and friends. She took a long trip to Greece in the 1980s with her friend Millie Kutchner (daughter of the Russian Othodox priest who sporadically offered prayers in the Annapolis Sts. Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Church). Anna made a “Greek-style” green bean casserole equal to those sold in finer Greek restaurants.
Annette Theodore Samaras, “Anna,” 86, an 80-year resident of Annapolis and previously of Eustis, FL, died at her residence on May 21, 2012.
Anna Samaras Photo Gallery