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Vera Tellis

January 16, 1931 — April 5, 2024

Charleston

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Past Services

Visitation

Greek Orthodox Church of The Holy Trinity

Saturday, April 10, 0004

1:00 - 2:00 pm (Eastern time)

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Funeral Service

Greek Orthodox Church of The Holy Trinity

Wednesday, April 10, 2024

2:00 - 3:00 pm (Eastern time)

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Burial

Live Oak Memorial Gardens

Wednesday, April 10, 2024

3:00 - 3:30 pm (Eastern time)

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Vera Tellis

Vera Tellis of Charleston, South Carolina died on April 05, 2024. Born January 16, 1931 she was the granddaughter of a Greek ship captain and the daughter of James Anthony Tellis and Katherine Patrona Tellis originally of Chios, Greece. After graduating from Memminger High School she attended the College of Charleston. She earned her Bachelor of Science of Pharmacy from the Medical University of South Carolina in 1952. While at MUSC, she was a member and officer of the Lambda Kappa Sigma professional sorority. Vera started her career in her family’s Tellis Pharmacy and in 1957 she began her 31-year tenure with the Medical University of South Carolina. She worked in various capacities including opening the first pharmacy at the Charleston County Hospital, staffing the outpatient clinic, and serving as the head pharmacist at the Storm Eye Institute. While at the Storm Eye Institute she was an instructor of ocular anatomy and pharmacology to students and residents. Vera’s lesson plans included her intricate medical diagrams which are now housed in the Waring Historical Library. As a member and officer of multiple medical societies she attended national and international meetings including memorable journeys to Yugoslavia and her ancestral homeland of Greece.

In the late 1980’s she and her sister Alice renovated the historic Tellis Pharmacy. This iconic building on King Street is the source of many memories for South Carolinians and in 1987 was designated a Carolopolis Award recipient. Her dedication to preservation was recognized by the Committee to Save the City who presented her with the Three Sisters Award. A member of the Preservation Society of Charleston, she endeavored to protect and improve her “corner of the world.”

Vera was a dedicated member of the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church. Always willing to serve the parish, she taught children’s Sunday School and graced the choir with her soprano voice for decades. She was a member of the Philoptochos Society and The Daughters of Penelope serving as chapter president and district secretary.

Vera is remembered by her family for her enthusiastic love of music, literature, world history, and science. Our many trips to Hampton Park, the Battery, and the beach will remain forever in our memory. She was engaging, positive, and selfless-an example to us fortunate to have known her.

Vera is survived by her sister Alice Tellis Critikos, nieces, nephews, grandnieces, grandnephews, great-grandnieces and great-grandnephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, brother Anthony James Tellis, and sister Mary Tellis.

May her memory be eternal.

Services will be held on Wednesday April 10, 2024 at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, 30 Race Street, Charleston, South Carolina. Visitation and Trisagion begin at 1:00 p.m. with funeral service at 2:00 p.m. Memorials may be sent to the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church Building Fund.

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