Stathoula Paleshi | Oral History Archive | HHFGCA

Stathoula Paleshi

Interviewer(s):

Theo Xenophontos

Project:

Greek Canadian Stories

INTERVIEW LOCATION:

Waterloo, ON

LANGUAGE:

English

DATE:

March 7, 2026

Interview Summary:

Stathoula Paleshi was born in Pentageia, Cyprus in 1963. In this interview, she juxtaposes her warm, communal upbringing in Potamos tou Kampou with the coldness and loneliness of her family’s first Christmas in Canada post-1974. Stathoula further details her involvement with various facets of church life in Kitchener, most notably her work on the Greek radio show, Basically Blue and White. Stathoula also shares a moving story about returning to say goodbye to her familial village after the checkpoints in Cyprus opened.

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Date and Location

March 7, 2026

Waterloo, ON

Interviewee(s)

Stathoula Paleshi

Interviewer(s)

Theo Xenophontos

Languages

English

Reference ID

GICREF142

Project

Greek Canadian Stories

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Categories

Associational Life

Canadian Society

Culture and Tradition

Education

Historical Events

Migration

Working Life

Tags

Decades Referenced

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

Locations Referenced

Cyprus; Famagusta; Limassol; Makedonitissa Tomb (Nicosia District); Morphou (Nicosia District); Nicosia; Nicosia International Airport; Pentageia (Nicosia District); Potamos tou Kampou (Nicosia District); Soli Amphitheatre (Nicosia District); Taht-el-kale (Nicosia District); Trachypedoula (Paphos District); Varosha (Famagusta District); Xeros (Nicosia District); Canada; Kingston; Kitchener; Sts. Peter and Paul Greek Orthodox Church (Kitchener); Toronto; Waterloo; Greece; Athens; Chios; the United Kingdom; London; the United States of America; Albany; Kingston (New York State); Philadelphia; Australia; Beirut; Berlin; Iran; Japan; Turkey

Occupation(s)

Factory worker, waitress, and secondary school teacher

Parents Occupation(s)

Father: Miner and served in the Cypriot military

Names Referenced

Antonis Paleshi; Elisseos Kyrillou

[00:00:20] Childhood in Potamos tou Kampou

[00:09:34] The divide between Grivas and Makarios supporters

[00:14:01] Discussing her uncle who went missing in 1974

[00:19:52] Familial migration patterns

[00:25:38] Life in Canada upon arrival

[00:34:17] Community life in Kitchener-Waterloo

[00:39:56] Her working life

[00:41:14] Her daughter joining the Greek community in Japan

[00:45:00] Meeting her husband through a Greek radio show

[00:47:27] Her husband’s migration story and family history

[00:51:14] Discussing Cypriot and Canadian identity

[00:54:48] Saying goodbye to her village in 2006

[01:04:12] Ambivalence over a solution to the Cyprus issue

[01:08:01] Question about Cypriot Canadian institutions

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