Barbara Costalas

Barbara Costalas died peacefully Sunday, July 27, 2025, at home in Port Royal Plantation on Hilton Head Island next to her beloved husband of 66 years, Nick Costalas. She was 86 years old.

A wife, mother of three daughters, and grandmother of eight grandchildren, she was born on Sept. 24, 1939, in Wilmington, Delaware, to her parents, Katherine and Kimon Haldas.

She graduated from P.S. DuPont High School in Wilmington, Delaware.

She received her education, beginning at the University of Delaware and finishing at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey, receiving a bachelor’s degree in English.

After two years at the University of Delaware, she married her husband, Nick.

 After she started a family, she went back to school for four years at night to earn her master’s degree in Humanities at Kean University in New Jersey.

She lived in Short Hills, New Jersey, for over 40 years. She was a member of the Canoe Brook Country Club in Summit, New Jersey, and an active member of the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Westfield, New Jersey.

In August 1973, with three little girls in the back seat of a Cadillac car, they made the 14-hour trek down I-95 with their dog, Boomer. After arriving on Hilton Head Island, they had lunch in Harbour Town. An hour had passed, Barbara and Nick looked at each other, and they decided to buy a Heritage Villa in Sea Pines Plantation.

Barbara and Nick sold the villa in 1999. They retired, traveled all over the world, and built a home near the golf course and beach in Port Royal Plantation in 2001. They had 52 golden years on Hilton Head Island.

Barbara and Nick attended services at St. Paul’s Greek Orthodox Church in Savannah. Barbara was an avid tennis player, bridge player, 18-hole golfer and mahjong player. In addition to those hobbies, she enjoyed long walks on the beach and afternoons by the pool.

Barbara is survived by her husband, Nick, as well as her daughters: Catherine Papadimas, Helen Dwyer (David Dwyer) and Christina Fuhs (William Fuhs). She also leaves behind her grandchildren: Nick Papadimas, Alex Dwyer, Christy Dwyer, Caitlyn Dwyer, Andrew Dwyer, Tyler Fuhs, Tallulah Fuhs and Eliot Fuhs.

Barbara loved her Greek Orthodox faith, her family and her friends. Her kindness, love and compassionate personality will live on in everyone who knew her.

There will be a celebration of life for family only at the Island Funeral Home on Hilton Head Island. Barbara will be buried at Six Oaks Cemetery in Sea Pines Plantation on Hilton Head Island.

May the memory of Barbara Costalas be eternal.