Penelope (Xavios) Ballas
Penelope X. Ballas, 102, of Reading, passed away Wednesday, December 3rd, at the home of her grandson and his wife surrounded by her loving family.
Penelope was born in Reading, PA on December 13, 1922, a daughter of the late Mariantha (Kritikou) and Peter Xavios (both formerly of Mytilene Greece). She was the widow of Louis J. Ballas.
She was a member of Sts. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church of Reading where she was honored as the church’s 2025 Mother of the Year and where she loved baking bread and pastries for the Greek Bazaar with her Philoptochos friends. She worked as a Process Checker at AT&T, Lucent & Agere Systems from where she retired.
Penelope is survived by 2 daughters, Maria L. Ballas, widow of S. Henry Lessig, Jr. and Cindy L. McGowan, wife of Don Binkley. She is also survived by her 3 grandchildren, Benjamin D. McGowan, Kristen M. Sterner and Marco A. Lessig along with two great grandchildren, Bryson and Dawson McGowan, sons of Benjamin and Keri (Adams) McGowan, who were both the apple of her eye.
She was predeceased by her sisters, Diamond Aretis, Irene Karetas, Efie Lambi and her brothers, Peter Charles, Nick and Spiro Xavios.
Relatives and friends are invited to Sts. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church located at 1001 E. Wyomissing Blvd., Reading, PA 19611, to gather with family on Wednesday from 11 AM to 12 Noon with the Religious Service starting at Noon. Interment will follow in the Mausoleum at Charles Evens cemetery at 1:30 PM.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be given to Sts. Constantine and Helen Church, St. Jude Childrens’ Hospital or the Animal Rescue League of Berks County in her name.
Arrangements entrusted to John P. Feeney Funeral Home, Inc. 625 N. 4th Street at Centre Ave., Reading, PA 19601, 610-372-4160. Obituary and condolences at www.johnpfeeney.com. You’ve chosen a terrific way of integrating images and text into your website. Move the image anywhere you want in this container and the text will automatically wrap around it. You can display events team members new products and more easily and creatively. To start add an image from the Image Picker and edit it as you would edit any image in the system. For example you can link the image to existing pages in your site a website URL a popup or an anchor. After you’ve chosen the image add your text. You can add text that describes the image you’ve selected or simply use the image for decorative purposes. \nYou’ve chosen a terrific way of integrating images and text into your website. Move the image anywhere you want in this container and the text will automatically wrap around it. You can display events team members new products more easily and creatively. To start add an image from the Image Picker and edit it as you would edit any image in the system. For example you can link the image to existing pages in your site a website URL a popup or an anchor. After you’ve chosen the image add your text. You can add text that describes the image you’ve selected or simply use the image for decorative purposes.
