Hariklia Canoutas, age 74, passed away on September 13, 2022 in Chapel Hill, NC.

Hariklia was born on September 16, 1947 in the village of Agios Nikolaos in Evrytania, Greece, to Xristos and Viktoria Tiggelis. Named after a beloved aunt who fought in the Greek Civil War, Hariklia and her family spent her first years living in a makeshift house in Lamia, Greece. After the war ended, they returned to rebuild their life in Agios Nikolaos, where she made her most cherished childhood memories. She later moved back to Lamia and was the first in her family to graduate from high school. She went on to enroll in a teaching program at Akademia Lamia, focusing on early childhood education. Hariklia met her husband, Nickolas Canoutas, originally from Voutiro, Evrytania, at a local village festival. They married in 1967.

After completing her teaching degree in 1968, Hariklia moved to Shelby, North Carolina, where Nick and his family immigrated after World War II, to start their life together. They raised three children--Constantine ("Gus"), Evanthia, and Chris--in Shelby and at the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Charlotte. As her children began leaving home for college, Hariklia joined Nick and his brothers-in-law, George Psilopoulos and Bill Nicopoulos, to work at the Shelby Café in the 1990s.

Hariklia had an affinity for gardening, traditional Greek dance, reading memoirs, and cooking meals for family and friends. In her later years, she enjoyed making the lasagna special at Chris' restaurant in Shelby. Hariklia embodied immigrant resilience, adjusting to the way of life in Shelby while preserving and celebrating her Greek heritage. While she never formally taught in school, she loved giving Greek cooking and language lessons to her children, nieces, nephews, and grandchildren. She most valued family, work, education, and the Greek Orthodox faith. Spending time with her six grandchildren gave her the greatest joy.

She was predeceased by her parents; her husband; her brother, Kostantinos Tiggelis; her sisters-in-law, Kassiani Nicopoulos and Vasiliki Psilopoulos; and her brother-in-law, Kostantinos Zaharopoulos. She is survived by her sisters Vasiliki Zaharopoulou and Marika Drella; brother-in-law, Anastasios Drellas; sisters-in-law Eleni Tiggeli and Helen Papanastasiou; and uncle, Giorgos Tsiamis and his wife, Xristina; her three children and spouses, Joshua Nadel (Evanthia) and Nancy Canoutas (Chris); her grandchildren, Nikolas Canoutas, Sofia Canoutas-Nadel, Rafael Canoutas-Nadel, Isabella Canoutas, Alexi Canoutas, and Ava Canoutas; and many cousins, nieces, and nephews in Greece and the United States.

Cecil M. Burton Funeral Home & Crematory is serving the family.