Barbara Anastassiadou Joannides, 93, passed away on January 30, 2022 in Westland, Michigan. Known affectionately as Loula, Mom, YiaYia, and ProYiayia, Barbara was born on October 21, 1928 in the small village of Mantoύdi on the island of Eύboea in Greece. She moved to Athens with her family as a young girl, though as a teenager she was forced to return to her island after the German invasion of Greece in the early 1940's in order to avoid the food shortages and starvation plaguing the capital city. With only a few relatives waiting for her, Barbara left Greece at the age of 19 to become a student in the United States. While living in Moline, Illinois and attending Marycrest College in Davenport, Iowa she met her future husband, George Joannides, a Greek Cypriot who had lived and worked in Sudan, Africa before making his way to the U.S. They were married in 1950 and lived in Chicago, where George owned and managed a restaurant, before moving back to the Quad Cities for George to begin his career at First National Bank of Moline. George's untimely and tragic death in 1961 at the age of 41 left Barbara as a single mother with four children, Themis (Greg Campbell), John, Daphne (Keith Lampkin), and Tina. She took a part-time job in the notions section at McCabe's Department Store in Rock Island and eventually found full-time employment at First National Bank of Moline. Starting out as a records clerk, she worked her way up to head bookkeeper before retiring in 1991, and managed to send all of her children to college and delighted in their endeavors in the fields of science, medicine, finance, and education. She moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1995 to be closer to family and lived the rest of her life just a few miles away from her daughter, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. She passed on her love of reading, cooking, sewing, travel, and Greek cookies to 10 grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildren, and countless friends and relatives. Barbara was a devoted member of St. George Greek Orthodox Church in Rock Island, Illinois and St. Nicholas of Ann Arbor, Michigan and will be laid to rest alongside her beloved husband George at Rock Island Memorial Park Cemetery. Visitation will be held Sunday, February 6, 2022 from 2-5pm with a prayer service at 3pm at Nie Family Funeral Home, 3767 W. Liberty Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48103. A burial will be held at a later date at Rock Island Memorial Park Cemetery and Mausoleum in Rock Island, Illinois. Memorial contributions may be made in Barbara's name to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital by mail to 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105 or online here: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Online Donations.