Jennie Vlanton

Jennie (Joanna) Vlanton, 93, a native of St. Louis who retired to Kent, Ohio, died on August 8. She was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on April 27, 1924, to Stephanos and Evangelia Constantinides. For 30 years, she was a classroom teacher and reading specialist with the St. Louis public schools. She held a B.A. in History from Washington University in St. Louis and a Masters in Education from the University of Missouri. Jennie was a member of the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Akron, where she is a past President of the ELPIS Society. Jennie had a lifelong interest in the history of Greek Americans and in her own family's journey from Asia Minor to the US. When she was 80 years old, Jennie published 761 Aubert Avenue: My Greek American Sanctuary, a memoir of her childhood in north St. Louis.

Jennie was preceded in death by her husband of 61 years, Elias Vlanton, sister Olympia Glynias and brother John Constantinides. She is survived by her brother Platon Constantinides, daughter and son-in-law Evangeline and Rick M. Newton; son and daughter-in-law Elias P. and Jane (Silver) Vlanton; grandchildren, Joanna Newton, Olympia Carranza, Elias Newton; Ari Vlanton, Yackelin Rodriguez, Renee Vlanton, Brianna Vlanton, and great-grandson Rick Carranza. Jennie was a loving wife, a dedicated teacher and a caring friend, but above all else, she was a devoted mother and grandmother.

Services will be held 11 a.m. Friday, August 11th at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Akron, with Rev. Fr. Andrew Lentz officiating. Friends may call at the Annunciation Church one hour before the service. Interment will be on Monday at 10:30 a.m. St. Matthew's Cemetery, 4360 Bates Street, St. Louis, Missouri. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to The Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church Building Fund, 129 S. Union St., Akron 44304 or to Doctors Without Borders, 333 7th Avenue, 2nd Floor, NY, NY 10001-5004.