First lady Mamie Eisenhower may not have been the most glamorous model in the world. But when Chryse Papageorge was asked to design a custom-made hat for the 34th president's wife, Mrs. Papageorge seized on the prestige assignment and gave it her all.

The Atlanta milliner whipped up a one-of-a-kind creation decorated with a dove of peace, and Mrs. Eisenhower adored it.

Family photo (ENLARGE)

Chryse Papageorge shows off a hat she designed.

For Mrs. Papageorge, having her creation displayed on such a prominent perch was a highlight of her career, said her son, Dr. Nick Demetry of Atlanta.

But "it was a zany-looking hat," her son said. "My mother said, 'I'm not so fond of it, but that's what they wanted.' "

That level-headedness was typical of Mrs. Papageorge, who combined the soul of an artist with the mind of pragmatist.

From the 1940s to the 1960s, Mrs. Papageorge's hats adorned the heads of Atlanta's best-dressed women, until the headgear slipped out of vogue.

Savvy businesswoman that she was, she segued into planning weddings and designing bridal veils — a field that let her marry her design work with the skills of an amateur psychologist.

"She said she could usually tell at the wedding which marriages were going to last and which weren't," her son said.

Chrysanthy Tuntas Papageorge, 93, of Atlanta died of a heart attack Tuesday at St. Joseph's Hospital. The funeral is 11 a.m. Friday at the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation. H. M. Patterson & Son, Arlington Chapel, is in charge of arrangements.

Born to Greek immigrant parents, the Atlanta native attended Agnes Scott College for two years, then headed to Paris to study millinery.

Soon her hats were spotted in Atlanta's finest department stores, including Davison's, Muse's and Regenstein's.

By the 1950s, the divorced mother of a young son was expanding her empire into New York and flying to Europe to round up reams of frilly fabrics.

"She was always stylish," said her friend Kathyrn Johnson of Atlanta. "And if you needed any advice on what to wear, she always had the perfect answer for you. She was a delight, really."

"My mother was a paradox," her son said. "She was very authentic, and at the same time, she had very strong standards for dress and how people should look. She was always after me. As her son, I was probably her biggest case.

"She had such a great eye for fashion and design and a genuine nobility about her," he said. "She'd sometimes laugh because she'd see these people full of pomp and circumstance putting on an image of being somebody. But she'd say what really matters comes from the inside. If you were pretending to be something, she hated that. She hated hypocrisy."

Gracious and youthful, Mrs. Papageorge's high spirits made friends flock to her.

"If there was a situation where she could find humor, she would," Ms. Johnson said. "She'd make these funny little quips, and sometimes they were rather saucy. But she was loads of fun."

At 76, she married Demetrius Papageorge of Atlanta, a family friend she'd known since she was 6.

"He'd always adored her," her son said. "They hoped when they married to have five good years together, and they had 17."

That leap of faith summed up her eternal optimism.

"If I think of her in terms of color," her son said, "it would be pink with a border of blue — love, but with a clear-headed mind attached to it."

Survivors other than her son and husband include two stepdaughters, Maria Artemis and Lainey Papageorge, both of Atlanta; a grandchild; four stepgrandchildren; and two great-stepgrandchildren.