Maria Catherina VanKlingeren Pappas of Oregon, Ohio passed away on Wednesday, August 7, 2024 at the age of 94 years. She was born in the Netherlands on June 13, 1930 to Cornelius and Susanna (Farenhorst) Van Klingeren.

Starting from a very young age in the Netherlands, music was an integral part of her life - to rephrase - music was her life. As a child, she attended church and sang regularly with her parents. As a young girl, during WWII in Arnheim, Netherlands, her musical skill was honed to perfection in the midst of the chaos. They had many evenings of group singing that appeared to be simple social events but were actually Dutch resistance underground meetings. Her father had refused to join the Nazi party and because of that, everything they owned was taken from them and he was denied work. Maria learned at a young age how to forage for food secretly and the horror of war. After the war, because of her father's heroic activities, they were one of the first that were offered by the Dutch government their choice of where they would like to live. They chose the United States and at the age of 18, in 1948, she arrived in the United States along with her parents and brothers to stay with their uncle in Toledo, Ohio. Here, Maria attended Davis Business College and met her sweetheart, Pando, at the Toledo International Institute while both were learning English.

She was very active at St. George Eastern Orthodox Cathedral, where she started the choir and at St. Elias Antiochian Eastern Orthodox Church where she was an active member of the choir. She always participated in the choir concerts of the combined choirs of the four Orthodox churches in Toledo. She was a member of the Dutch Club of Toledo, the Young at Heart of Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral, the YMCA, and the Oregon Senior Center. She volunteered for Crosby Gardens, Homeroom Mother, and Mother's Club while her children attended school. Maria worked for LaSalle's and Sears Department Stores for 20 plus years as a clerk and buyer's assistant while raising four children.

Maria not only sang but played many musical instruments, including the flute, accordion, violin and piano. She sang with the Toledo Symphony Orchestra and the Toledo Choral Society. She also danced, along with her children and husband, at international festivals and other events.

Because of her involvement with the Dutch Club, Maria had an incredible experience when she and her husband were personally invited to a banquet, held in Chicago, honoring Queen Beatrix and Prince Claus of the Netherlands.

Most of all, Maria loved her family. She played and taught them the piano with her children on her lap. They all inherited her love of singing and sang as a family choir for weddings, funerals and other events. An avid traveler, Maria, with her husband and often the children, traveled all over the world to enjoy new sights and visiting relatives that had scattered throughout the world after the war.

Maria is preceded in death by her husband, Pando Pappas, parents Cornelius and Susanna Fahrenhorst VanKlingeren, brother Hank and his wife Gerda, sister-in-law Darlene, and her brother Corey VanKlingeren. She leaves behind her four children, Constance (Dr. Steven) Ross, Karen (James) Pappas, Michael (Barbara) Pappas, and Jeff (Jacqueline) Pappas; 12 grandchildren, 9 great grandchildren; and brother, Bill (Ruth) Van Klingeren, and many beloved nieces and nephews.

Visitation will be at Eggleston Meinert & Pavley Funeral Home, 440 South Coy Road, Oregon, Ohio 43616 on Friday, August 9, 2024 from 4 pm-8 pm with Trisagion starting at 7 pm. Funeral services will be held at St. Elias Antiochian Church, 4940 Harroun Rd, Sylvania, OH 43560 on Saturday, August 10, 2024 with visitation at 10 am and funeral service at 10:30 am. Interment will follow at Restlawn Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Elias Antiochian Church, 4940 Harroun Rd, Sylvania, OH 43560 or St. Elizabeth the New Martyr Orthodox Mission, 28010 East Broadway S, Walbridge, OH 43465.