Marie Philips, 95; helped run store

Working upstairs at the South End store that she and her husband ran for decades, Marie (Papoulias) Philips kept the financial records and dished out personal advice.

The matron of a large, extended Greek family died July 29 in her Milton home. She was 95.

Stocking the Laconia Grocery's shelves with olives, cheese, and goods from around the world, the couple sold ethnic food and drew clientele from Mediterranean countries who could find meat cooked the way they remembered it from home.

Although Mrs. Philips started out by helping to prepare the store's various foods, she quickly moved upstairs to manage the financial side of the operation, keeping track of cash flow. Sunday mornings, she and her husband, Peter, sat down and studied the finances together, always making it clear to those who knew them that it was a joint business that they ran as equals.

They had no children, but a steady stream of nieces and nephews held odd jobs around the store. ''Mimi," as she was known to most, and her husband were sought out for advice, and they were not shy about giving it out.

''If something went wrong, you were shepherded in to talk with them, and she'd be there to nurture you," said Arthur Papas of Weston, her nephew.

Of any action under consideration, Mrs. Philips tended to warn about long-range consequences.

''She'd be supportive, but if you were doing something she thought was off the charts, she'd say, 'How realistic is this?' " Papas said. ''She wouldn't say don't do it, she'd say, 'Consider what you are getting into.' "

Born and raised in Dorchester, Mrs. Philips moved to Arlington with her family while she was in high school, so she finished her education at Arlington High School. She worked briefly in various jobs in Boston before meeting and marrying her husband. After relocating once because the buildings in the area were being cleared for development, they ran the store together until it closed in the mid-1970s.

Since then, her life has included travel, reading, church, and advising family members.

In addition to her nephew Arthur, she leaves her niece, Ellen-Marie Demeter of Boston; and her nephews Arthur G. Tallas of Cincinnati, Nicholas Phillips of Weymouth, Gregory G. Tallas of Vancouver, Canada, Peter G. Tallas of Oakland, Calif., and Anthony Orphanos of New York.

Services were held yesterday in the Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Boston. Burial was in Forest Hill Cemetery, Jamaica Plain.