City of Oaks Funeral Home & Cremation

Obituary
Sophia Samusevich Ceppos

Raleigh, North Carolina

Age 100.
Died 05/08/2023.

Sophia Samusevich Ceppos
Sophia Samusevich Ceppos, 100, of Raleigh, NC passed away May 8th, 2023 at Hillcrest Raleigh Nursing Home & Rehabilitation Center.

Sophia was born April 1, 1923 in Joliet, IL to the late Fyodor (Peter) and Paraska (Pearl) Samusevich. Surviving are her son Larry A. Ceppos and wife Patti, of Seven Lakes; son Sanford P. Ceppos and partner Courtney Ward, of Raleigh; grandchildren, Laura Ceppos, Karin Ceppos, Rachel Scallan, Jaimie Francis, Daniel Ceppos, Matt Jones and Sara Ceppos; and twelve great grandchildren. In addition to her parents, Sophia was preceded in death by her ex-husband Melvin Ceppos and her siblings, Ruby Jackson, Pete Samusevich, and Alex Samusevich.

Sophia’s father died when she was very young, and she and her 3 older siblings helped her mother run a small grocery store. As a young woman, she bravely left all she knew behind to move to Washington DC and marry a man she barely knew. She became a wife and a mother, co-entrepreneur, and homemaker. She made so many friends and fully embraced her life choices. Then she again took the road less traveled and loved herself enough to leave a marriage that no longer honored her. In her 40’s she became a “career woman”, combining a love of golf and payroll and even uprooted her life to work for PGA in FL until a gator greeted her at her front door one day - and back to MD she went. She was a championship golfer and tennis player, and a fierce competitor in any game. She became a grandmother and who could have done it better? She carved out time for 1:1 weekends with each grandchild. She made food that will never be rivaled. She gave her grandchildren exposure to culture in the arts via the museums, parks, and theaters in the DC area. At 80 years old, after losing so many of her friends and feeling ready for something new, she moved to NC. She learned to navigate a new city, make new (younger) friends, and mastered using the internet. She became a great grandmother of 12! She finally gave up living on her own and driving at 93 and begrudgingly let others care for her since. At 100, with end stage dementia, she still had humor and kindness in abundance. For all those who knew Sophia, they would surely agree that these words describe her: love, courage, kindness, independence, forgiveness, food, and laughter. She lived a very full life in her 100 years, touching so many lives.

A private celebration of life will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the Alzheimer's Association in Sophia’s memory.

How should we remember Sophia? By enjoying “a little something sweet” and hugging your loved ones tight.

You can view some pictures of Sophia over the years here - https://photos.app.goo.gl/7EB6MdErDuayQH1x6

For additional information or for service details, please reach out to the family directly.


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City of Oaks Cremation and Funeral Home is a full-service funeral home in Raleigh, serving all of North Carolina and beyond. We provide an alternative to costly funeral homes and every day we help families in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and all over North Carolina make simple, affordable funeral arrangements.

Simply having to reach out to a funeral home can feel overwhelming. Our goal is to simplify the entire funeral home experience and make the process as easy as possible. We hope to eliminate any unnecessary surprises by publishing our total cost and the services we provide directly on our website. All of our obituaries are provided free of charge as a way to help families celebrate and commemorate the lives of their loved ones.

Our Promise

Apples to Apples

Just like all other licensed funeral homes in North Carolina, City of Oaks Cremation, LLC is regulated by the NC Board of Funeral Service.


The same laws that apply to the big corporate funeral homes also apply to the modest independently owned firms like ours. All crematories in North Carolina, regardless of who owns them, are inspected annually by the state and must adhere to the same rules and laws.

Genuine Care

We're committed to providing families within our community unsurpassed service before, during and after the time of loss.


Our staff will provide clear communication to your family through each step as we move forward from the original phone call notifying us of a death to the time we deliver the urn back to your family. We will treat your family with the utmost respect, as we honor the wishes of your loved one.


We promise to make this process affordable and as endurable as possible.

State Wide

Our Funeral Home is located in Wake County NC; however, we provide our services to families throughout the entire State.


Unlike other funeral homes, we don't charge an additional mileage fee. Regardless of what county you live in, we can help your family with making simple, affordable funeral arrangements. From Asheville to Wilmington, we're proud to help families statewide.

Our Services

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Direct Cremation

$1196.75

Nobody likes surprise costs added in at the last minute. We guarantee you will not find any hidden charges here. We include everything you need for a simple or direct cremation. Simple, affordable and reliable. We have not changed the cost of our direct cremation service since we opened City of Oaks in 2012.

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Cremation with Solidified Remains

$2875.66

We offer the option of choosing how you receive your loved ones remains. Selecting our Direct Cremation with Solidified Remains option is a beautiful way to transform cremated remains into 40-60 “stones” that you can hold.

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Cremation with Visitation

$1917.84

City of Oaks Funeral Home and Cremation provides an affordable cremation option with onsite visitation. Nobody likes surprise costs added in at the last minute. We guarantee you will not find any hidden charges here. Simple, affordable and reliable.

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Immediate Burial

$2497.50

An immediate burial has the same end result as a traditional burial; however, we have eliminated the extra (sometimes unnecessary) services prior to getting to the cemetery. Not everyone wants an open casket for viewing or a limousine for the family. Despite the term immediate, we can move as fast as you need or as slow as you like. This option simply allows you to save money by eliminating some of the fancy extras at the funeral home.

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Traditional Funeral

$5866.98

We offer the same traditional funeral services as the big corporately owned funeral homes in the area; however, we cost about half the amount. You might consider a traditional funeral service if your family is looking for an open casket visitation, a traditional church service or a funeral service in the funeral home's chapel. A traditional funeral service can be altered to fit the needs of your family.

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Green Burial

$3033.75

This establishment is one of a select number of funeral homes who meet the criteria for providing green funeral service by the Green Burial Council; a tax-exempt, nonprofit organization working to encourage environmentally sustainability in the field of funeral service. Our Green options allow for a funeral to take place without the use of toxic and non-biodegradable materials/chemicals.

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Aquamation

$2640.59

As an alternative to traditional cremation, City of Oaks Funeral Home also offers Aquamation. The Aquamation process, often referred to as alkaline hydrolysis, uses a solution of water and potassium hydroxide to facilitate natural decomposition.

City of Oaks Funeral Home & Cremations