Maria Care

Maria Care, beloved wife, mother and grandmother, died at the age of 68 on May 29, 2019. She is survived by her children, Julie Lane, Derek Care, and Timothy Care; mother, Joanne Dialectos; brother Athan Dialectos and sister Angel Lee Helm; and grandchildren, Noah, Griffin, Georgia, Everett, and Hope Lane. She is mourned, and will be missed, by countless more.

Maria was born on March 23, 1951 to George and Joanne Dialectos of Reading, Pennsylvania. She lived in Reading throughout her life, other than 4 years spent in Philadelphia during college.
In 1969, Maria graduated from Reading High School. There, she met the love of her life, Robert Care, whom she married in 1973. They spent 41 happy years together, until Robert's death in 2014. They raised three children together, and were proud grandparents to five beautiful grandchildren whom they adored with their all their hearts. A sixth, for whom Maria has already enlisted as guardian angel, is arriving soon.
While in high school, Maria was told by a guidance counselor that she had no hope, as a woman, of reaching her dream of getting into an Ivy League college, and that she should make alternate plans. She thanked him for the advice. In 1973, Maria graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy, with a Bachelor of Science in Physical Therapy.
In the following four plus decades, Maria provided therapy to thousands of patients, including sick and disabled children, and later, senior patients, the nuns of Saint Joseph Villa convent, and those unable to leave their homes. For 26 of those years, she was a visiting physical therapist with the Berks Visiting Nurses Association. She was with her patients as she was with everyone in her life: unrelenting in her care, and unconditional in the love that helped her patients to health and through pain.
Maria's life was defined above all by her love and commitment to her family, and her devotion to her Greek Orthodox Christian faith. Indeed, to Maria, there was no distinction between them. In her final days, as cancer wrestled with as fierce a fighter as it's ever encountered, she was surrounded on all sides by both her large and ever-growing family, and all the prayers of those who she had touched during her beautiful life.
Funeral Service will be held in Saints Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Church, 1001 East Wyomissing Blvd, Reading, PA 19611, Monday, June 3, 2019 at 11:00 am. Reverend Thomas L. Pappalas will officiate. Interment will follow in Charles Evans Cemetery. The family will receive relatives and friends in Saints Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Church Monday 9:00 am to 11:00 am.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in Maria's name to Saints Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Church at the above address; the Foundation for Women's Cancer, at https://www.foundationforwomenscancer.org/support-us/donate, or to the Reading Hospital Foundation, at https://reading.towerhealth.org/foundation/ or P.O. Box 16052, Reading, PA 19612.
Bean Funeral Home, North 16th & Rockland Streets, Hampden Heights is in charge of arrangements and online condolences may be made at www.beanfuneralhomes.com