Sandra Vlahakis

Sandra Vlahakis, of Yankton, South Dakota died on Saturday, March 14, 2026 at Avera Majestic Bluffs Hospice House in Yankton

Funeral service will be held at 12:00 PM, on Thursday, March 26, 2026 at Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church in Sioux Falls, South Dakota with Father Peter Smith officiating. Trisagion prayers for the departed will take place at 11:00 AM on Thursday at the church and a visitation will be from 11:00 to 12:00 PM. Visitation will also take place from 4:00 to 6:00 PM, on Wednesday, March 25 at the Wintz & Ray Funeral Home in Yankton.

Sandra Vlahakis was born on May 20, 1950 in Yankton, South Dakota to Theodore and Victoria (Makris) Vlahakis. She enjoyed a full life with family and friends. Upon graduating from Yankton High School, she attended both the University of South Dakota in Vermillion and ended up graduating with her Bachelor’s Degree from Yankton College in 1973. Sandra also attended Graduate School at USD and majored in Counseling with an emphasis in Drug and Alcohol Addiction. Eventually she had to put her career on hold because of her owner/management duties at the family steak house in Yankton, the Black Steer Steak House where she continued to work for her lifetime.

Sandra had many interests and traveled extensively as both a child and an adult. She enjoyed summers at the family cabin in northern Wisconsin which was on the lake. She was an avid swimmer, fisherman, and loved boating. Her early years in Wisconsin were always very special for family time and lots of fun. Horseback riding was also a favorite pastime for her growing up with her horses.

Upon graduating high school, she toured Europe with a group of students and was fascinated by all the sights and history that she was able to witness for herself. Years later, she went for several weeks to Greece and took in all of the beauty of the country and wonderful beaches. She traveled with a friend extensively in the Caribbean and was able to visit many of the islands. She enjoyed her travels to those ports. She also traveled to Hawaii and Greece with her sister, Christine and loved the warm weather and the beaches.

Sandra was an avid reader, antique collector and a wonderful mother to her fur baby, Mia. She was passionate about fashion and would enjoy days of shopping with her sisters and sometimes planning trips with shopping in mind. She raised her fur baby, Mia from a small puppy and loved her very deeply.

In her later life, she developed rheumatoid arthritis which slowed her down a little but she continued her life’s work at the family steak house and still traveled to Arizona and California numerous times. In the last three years of her life, she was stricken with many health misfortunes and died with her loveable fur baby, Mia at her side.

Sandra is survived by her fur baby, Mia; sisters: Terease Vlahakis (Brian Ahrens), Christine Vlahakis (Dan Dringman), and Estelle (Wayne) Johnson; nephews: Troy (Daniela) Johnson, Zach (Lindsay) Bowen; nieces: Amy Johnson (Mark Langley) and Amanda Johnson Feimer (Mike); grandnieces and grandnephews: Ethan Langley, Tucker Feimer, Aurora Johnson, Alana Johnson, Ava Johnson, Elle Bowen, Avianna Bowen, and Royce Bowen.

Sandra was preceded in death by her parents, Victoria and Theodore Vlahakis; and brother, Teddy.