Dorothea Davidian

Dorothea, who was also known as Dorothy or Dot, was born in Bellows Falls, Vermont, to George and Mary (Maria) Chressanthis on December 8, 1927. Shortly thereafter, her family returned to her parents’ native Greece, where she lived until age 11. Upon the family’s return to the United States, Dorothea attended Troy High School in Troy, New York, followed by secretarial school. Following her training, Dorothea took an administrative position in the office of the US Geological Survey in Albany, New York, where she met her future husband, Jacob (Jack) Davidian, as the staff member who met with him to prepare his paperwork for his position as a hydrologist with the Survey’s Water Resources Division. She and Jack married on September 9, 1956, in Troy, New York, and moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where Jack completed his Master of Science in Civil Engineering at Georgia Tech. Dorothea and Jack then moved to an apartment in Arlington, Virginia, where Jack resumed work in the Survey’s Water Resources Division (Surface Water Branch) in Arlington. Dorothea was a stay-at-home mom to their daughter, Marie, born in 1958, and their son, John, who was born in 1964 after Dorothea and Jack moved to their home in Springfield, Virginia, following Jack’s two-year detail with the Survey in Iowa City, Iowa.

In 1967, Dorothea and Jack moved to her current home in Fairfax, Virginia. In the late 1970s, after the Geological Survey moved to its headquarters in Reston, Virginia, Dorothea returned to work in the Survey’s National Mapping Division. Following Jack’s passing in 1983, she continued to work at the Survey as an analyst until her retirement in 1993. Dorothea was a long-time community member of the George Mason University Symphonic Choir, with which she was a soprano and performed in concerts at numerous venues, including the Kennedy Center and the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, DC. In her retirement, Dorothea enjoyed traveling, taking numerous cruises to destinations including Alaska, the Caribbean, the Panama Canal, and South America and an unforgettable Danube river cruise with her first cousin, Coula Metelines, her frequent travel companion. She also was able to take a memorable trip to Greece, where she visited extended family and enjoyed visits to the Greek islands and her parents’ ancestral villages.

Dorothea lived independently in her home through 2018, doing her own house and yard work and driving her 1994 Honda Accord (until 2017). In 2019, Dorothea entered Vienna Manor II, an assisted living residence in Vienna, Virginia, where she received outstanding care from the devoted staff. During her stay at Vienna Manor, she and her son John enjoyed years of almost daily adventures traversing the Washington, DC, area in her Honda, including numerous trips to attractions in DC, Virginia, and Maryland and to favorite restaurants.

Dorothea is preceded in death by her parents, George and Mary Chressanthis; her three older brothers, John, Andrew, and James Chressanthis; and her husband, Jacob Davidian. She is survived by her son John Davidian of Fairfax, Virginia; daughter Marie Davidian (Anastasios Tsiatis) of Raleigh, North Carolina; nephews James (Jim; Santa Fe, New Mexico), George (Philadelphia), and Frank (Philadelphia) Chressanthis; Jim’s daughter Zoe Chressanthis; and George’s daughter and son Emily and William Chressanthis, who loved her as their surrogate “Yiayia.”

Dorothea’s children wish to extend our heartfelt thanks to her unparalleled caregivers at Vienna Manor II, who treated her and loved her as their own family member: Alma, Zoila, Nancy, Ines, Roxanna, and Elizabeth, her current caregivers; and past caregivers Ingrid, Susan, Samantha, Marisol, Melissa, Rose, Claudia, and the many others who made her last years so meaningful. She (and we) was (were) truly blessed to have had you in her life. Profound thanks to Rosa Susinski, Grace Kimball, and Suzanne Albisu for creating and maintaining Vienna Manor and providing families like ours with such a caring, safe environment for our loved ones.

A private burial will take place on December 19 at National Memorial Park in Falls Church, Virginia. A Celebration of Life is planned for early 2025, with details to follow.

Memorials may be given to Saint Katherine’s Greek Orthodox Church in Falls Church, Virginia.