Christine "Tena" (Constantine) Booras

Christine “Tena” Booras, 91, passed peacefully on Thursday at MGH with her children at her bedside.  Married for 60 years to the late Christie “Chris” Booras, Christine resided in Lynn after moving from Greenwich, CT after high school, where she was voted “Best Dancer.” She loved to dance and met Dad at a Greek dance.

Though her body failed, her mind was sharp as a tack, and our link to the past.  Our neighbor once said that Tena was “the one” that everyone wanted at their parties. She loved to entertain and we have many fond memories of celebrations and parties, game nights, Monday night dinners, and holidays. If you stopped by their house unexpectedly, which people often did, you were graciously greeted with food and drink. Her best friends were known as ”The Club.” In her 91 years, she was always the voice of optimism, her favorite saying “Things will always work out, they always do.”

Her greatest love was family and friends and she was keen at keeping us all together. She never forgot a birthday, christening, graduation, anniversary, or any important occasion.  She helped immigrants from Greece, friends of friends, and relatives, to navigate their way upon arrival, helped them with English and drove people to the hospital to have babies or get help when sick.

She was the President of the PTA, headed up the church PTO, and an active member of the Philoptochos Society She organized so many school and church fundraisers long before you could group text or set up a sign up site, organizing everything by old fashioned phone.  She loved the annual Greek picnic at St. George.

Prior to marrying, Christine worked at GE for years where she made many lifelong dear friends. One of the highlights being that she met the movie star Ronald Reagan, with whom she shared the same birthday. She was one of the first work at home mothers running our late father’s oil business from the house. She answered the phones day and night, scheduled deliveries, and did all the accounting by hand and typewriter, all while raising 3 children.

Tena had a passion for fashion, and you would be hard pressed to ever find her without her hair done, earrings adorned, nails polished, or nicely dressed with perfect jewelry.  She loved the beach and we fondly remember spending evenings during the summer at Nahant beach with a picnic basket.  Our parents were snowbirds to Florida for 30 years.

Having to say goodbye is difficult during this pandemic, but we hope to have a celebration of her life when it is safe to do so.  Her twinkling brown eyes and ready smile will be sorely missed.  She did no harm and helped so many.

She will be sorely missed by her three children, Gingi and her partner Marge Tuite of Swampscott, Catherine and her husband Brian Donnellan of Middleton, her 2 grandchildren that were the light of her life, Nicholas and Sophia, her son Ted Booras of Lynn and 2 grandchildren ToniAnn and Teddy, and her niece Ginny Dunton, and great nieces and nephews.  She was predeceased by her sister Olga Anganis, and beloved niece Cathy Plourde.

Service Details: Funeral services will be held at the Parker Funeral Home 35 Franklin St. Lynn on Tuesday at 11:00 AM, following the guidelines for social distancing set forth by the CDC and the Lynn Board of Health concerning Covid. Visiting hours will be on Monday from 4:00 – 7:00 PM. In lieu of flowers, we ask that you please make a donation to either, St George Greek Orthodox Church, Salem Hospital (NSMC) or MGH in her name.

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