Rhea Econom’s published obituary opens with a clean factual frame and closes with a portrait of who she was to the people who knew her:
“RHEA ECONOM Beloved wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother passed away on Saturday, July 14, 2012, at the age of 85. Rhea was born in New York City on October 1, 1926, and graduated from Hunter College.”
“Rhea is survived by her husband of 62 years, Leonidas; her daughters, Cathy, Christine, Stephanie and Kim; grandchildren, Jesse, Lacy and Tim; and great grandson, Garth. She now joins her predeceased son, Peter, and daughter, Jo Ann, in peace and Heaven and glory of God.”
“In 1964, Rhea and Leo moved to California and opened Econom Tax Service. Rhea continued to operate the business with her five daughters and is now succeeded by her youngest daughter Kim. In 1977, Rhea and Leo opened a restaurant in Las Vegas with their friend and client Jack Tucey.”
“Rhea was loved by all who met her and had a positive impact on so many people’s lives. She was a second mother to a lot of them.”
Funeral Services were held Saturday, July 21, 2012, at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in Northridge, with interment following at Oakwood Memorial Park in Chatsworth, California. Visitation the night before at Bastian & Perrott, Oswald Mortuary, Northridge.
The obituary is the principal source filling in the Econom California branch — a section of the family tree that had been near-empty until 2026. It is also the source of record for Rhea’s October 1, 1926 birth date (her 1930 Census entry rounded her age to 3, which had previously been read as “~1927”), her Hunter College education, the family’s 1964 move to California, the Econom Tax Service practice in Northridge, the 1977 Las Vegas restaurant venture with Jack Tucey, and her six children: Peter, Jo Ann, Cathy, Christine, Stephanie, and Kim — of whom Peter and Jo Ann predeceased her.