ASTORIA – Anastasia Paterekas, 49, was found dead in Astoria on June 10 after the police responded at around 9 PM to a call from a man in need of help at 23-81 32 Street, according to the NYPD, QNS.com reported on June 11.

“When the police and EMS personnel arrived, they were met by a combative 80-year-old man and found Anastasia Paterekas, of 43rd Street, unconscious and unresponsive inside the home,” the police said, QNS reported, adding that “the man was taken to NYC Health & Hospitals/Elmhurst for treatment and evaluation” and “Paterekas was pronounced dead at the scene.”

Anastasia Paterekas, with roots in Thessaloniki, was born on March 26, 1971 in Astoria, and was a teacher, according to media reports, which noted that she was found unresponsive by her father who had just returned home from a hospital stay following a surgical procedure. The cause of her death was reportedly a stroke, according to the Medical Examiner’s office, media reports added.

The visitation was held on June 14 at Antonopoulos Funeral Home in Astoria. The funeral was held at the Cathedral of St. Demetrios also in Astoria on June 15 with burial at St. Michael’s Cemetery. Only close family was in attendance due to the restrictions on large gatherings to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

On the Antonopoulos Funeral Home website, the following poem was included in the listing for Paterekas’ funeral arrangements:

“The butterfly emerges from its silken shell – Reborn, it arises, no longer bound to earth. Free at last, the butterfly glides to heights unknown before. So do our loved ones find a beautiful release as, earthbound no more, they leave our sight and joyfully rise to a garden of matchless beauty, a place of light and peace.”

May her memory be eternal.