Alexandra Maria (Haldoupis) Nordin

SWAMPSCOTT - Alexandra Maria (Haldoupis) Nordin, of Swampscott, passed away peacefully on November 14th, 2025 at the age of 82 after a brief illness.

She is survived by her husband Ulf Nordin, her sons Karl Nordin and his wife Cheryl, of Wenham, MA and Nicholas Nordin and his wife Brita, of Exeter, NH, her grandchildren Markus, Greyson, Jonah, Annika and Graham, her two brothers Jack Haldoupis, of Roslindale, Tom Haldoupis and his wife Marianne, of Hopkinton and her niece, Alethia Peters. Her sister Barbara (Haldoupis) Peters, predeceased her.

Born on April 27, 1943 in Cambridge, MA to the late Alexander and Julie (Sclavounos) Haldoupis of Roslindale, MA, Alex was the oldest child and fiercely protective of her three younger siblings. Her father was a talented singer and entertainer, as well as a restauranteur, and at one point, moved the family to Tarpon Springs, Florida, a storied enclave of Greek culture, cuisine, and sponge divers, but within two years, the family returned to Boston.

She studied at Northeastern University and was working at Harvard University when she met the man she would marry on one wintry night at Club Nicole in Harvard Square. Ulf Nordin was a shy engineer from Sweden who was on a first date with a Swedish girl whom he soon discovered wanted neither to dance nor talk to him. He spotted Alex across the dance floor, sitting with friends, and was immediately enchanted by her beauty, the way she was talking with people, and how she moved. Ulf feigned a headache, offered to take his date home and returned to the club, but couldn’t work up the courage to ask Alex to dance. Instead, he asked her friend, and then finally, Alex. “We just clicked,” Ulf recalled. Six months later, they married.

Ulf was living in Swampscott at the time, and it was ultimately where the couple settled to raise their family in the colonial style house they bought in 1972 after Alex convinced the widowed homeowner they would be good stewards of the house. Always devoted to one another, Alex and Ulf took to calling each other “Cutie Pie” or simply “Pie.” But with the arrival of their sons, their devotion spread to include summer days spent with the boys at Eisman’s Beach in Swampscott, camping trips, vacations to Niagara Falls, Cooperstown, NY, and Canada, and a trip to Europe, including a flight to Sweden to meet Ulf’s family. While the boys were young, she was a tireless supporter of their sports, attending games, organizing team meals, and working the Little League concession booth. She was also active with the Unitarian Universalist Church of Greater Lynn, where she taught religious education classes and served on the board.

Next to being a parent, one of Alex’s true joys was becoming a grandparent and hosting sleepovers with monkey bread breakfasts or setting up a home library for Annika to play librarian. She and Ulf cherished their visits to Portland, OR to spend time with their grandsons in their younger years. Those visits were filled with walks to the park, arts & crafts, building block towers, trips to the zoo, train rides, and beloved bedtime stories. She brought tremendous humor, light, and lasting values into all of her grandchildren’s lives.

Alex was a versatile cook who could make something both delicious and nutritious with whatever ingredients she happened to have on hand, ranging from pastitsio, a classic Greek comfort food, to pytt-i-panna, Swedish for “a mix in the pan” and made by frying random leftovers with onions topped by a fried egg. She loved to read and for 20 years belonged to one book group of eight women who became her close friends, as well as joining a second book group at the local Swampscott Public Library. She was an avid fan of all the Boston sports teams, and although she no longer played tennis herself, her favorite sport to watch was tennis. She would get up early to watch live Wimbledon matches and liked to cheer for the underdog.

Alex was a force - an extraordinary storyteller, hilarious with her spot-on impressions, and blessed with a sharp, delightful wit. Her compassion for the underdog, her down-to-earth wisdom, and her intuitive, steadfast care for everyone around her endeared her to her family and to her many friends who cherished her. “She was a great sounding board. She was so much more than a mother-in-law,” said her daughter-in-law, Cheryl. Simply put, she is irreplaceable.

ARRANGEMENTS: A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, Nov. 29th from 2 to 5 pm at 40 Orchard Circle in Swampscott. The family has asked that, in lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Friends of Swampscott Public Library online or via check. Assisting the family with the arrangements is O’Donnell Cremations – Funerals – Celebrations - SALEM.