Mary Kumarelas Mousalimas

July 28, 1926—September 6, 2014 

Mary Kumarelas Mousalimas was born on July 28, 1926 in Salt Lake City, UT; the daughter of Demetrios “Jim” and Eugenia “Virginia” Kumarelas who were originally from Greece. The eldest of five children, she was predeceased by Eleni, Anna, and John, and is survived by Bobbie. 

Mary attended Westminster College in Salt Lake City. She was an active member of the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church from her youth; she was a member of the Church Choir and at 17 years old established the parish’s first Sunday School program. 

In 1948, Mary married Andrew Mousalimas, settled in Oakland and raised her beloved family of four children. 

From 1968 to 1990, she was the co-owner and restaurateur at Kings X, an Oakland landmark of its time. 

Mary's passion was the preservation of Greek/American history honoring her parents’ immigrant generation. In 1976, she spearheaded saving the first Greek Orthodox Church in the East Bay from demolition, establishing it as a national and state historical landmark on 10th and Castro Streets, Oakland. Mary was the founder and chairwoman of the Ascension Historical Society from 1989 to 2010. She co-founded the Preservation of American Hellenic History website (pahh.com) in 2002; and was instrumental in organizing a series of conferences and symposia from 1998 to 2007 in California, Utah and Arizona for the preservation and dissemination of Greek-American history. In 2006 Mary was honored by the Ascension Cathedral as Mother of the Year, and in 2009 received the medal of St. Paul, the highest honor awarded to a member of the laity by the Greek Orthodox Church. 

So, the Committee to Save the Brush Street Church was established and incorporated by just two people, myself and my daughter, Eugenia M. Ahlas. We proved that the church building met the established criteria, and we had it registered as both a State and National Historical Landmark. We saved the church building from demolition. It was moved one city block away from its original site. Due to the state's conflict of interest guidelines however, our committee was not allowed to purchase the property, and it was sold to another denomination. The church building still stands as a place of Christian worship.

Imagine how much we could have accomplished if we had DONE something during those years. At the very least, we could have acquired the building for ourselves, and today would have owned a vital piece of our history. We might even perhaps have used the building as a museum.

Citation Guidelines

Mousalimas, Mary K., "Moving the Original Church Building", in "Preservation of our Community Histories: Past, Present, and Future", Workshop Report, Preservation of Parish Histories, 36th Biennial Clergy Laity Congress of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, July 1-2, 2002, online publication July 2002, available at http://www.pahh.com/symposia/workshops2002/mous.html; excerpt available at http://www.pahh.com/ahc/assumption/move06.html.

Copyright ©Mary K. Mousalimas 2002. All rights Reserved.