Elsie Barbara Ashooh

Elsie Barbara Ashooh was born to Lebanese immigrants Elias J. Ashooh and Racheedy Maroon Ashooh, on February 12, 1932. Elsie died on August 3, 2019. A native of Manchester, New Hampshire, she worked on the family farm together with three brothers and three sisters, graduated from Central High School in 1949, and worked in Manchester for more than a decade before moving to Northern Virginia in 1962. Over the subsequent years, she resided in Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax, and, most recently, at Goodwin House Alexandria, with her dear friend and cousin Elizabeth D. Ashooh. Elsie left a large contingent of family in New England to join a growing contingent in Virginia and soon began a career of almost 30 years of government service. First, she worked as an administrative assistant to Congressman Melvin R. Laird (R-WI) in the U.S. House of Representatives and, later, as a congressional liaison at the General Services Administration. She retired in 1990. Elsie was the proud aunt of more than 200 nieces and nephews—great, grand, and great-great—each of whom was carefully noted, with birth date and birth-order number, in a list that was never farther away than her purse. She was exceptionally involved with this extended family—attending endless birthdays, recitals, plays, musicals, ball games, baptisms, first communions, confirmations, and weddings. She spoiled her nieces and nephews at every opportunity, eagerly chaperoning them to the beach, amusement parks, and movies and generously proving an endless source of quarters for rides, games, and ice cream. An avid sports enthusiast, Elsie counted the Boston Red Sox and the Washington Nationals (earlier, Senators) and Redskins as top favorites. Her pleasure in golf, bowling, and card playing was frequently shared with a steady company of friends and neighbors. She led the way, among her older sisters and cousins, in stylishly dressing the part in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, and she was known to mix a serious whiskey sour and daiquiri. Elsie would not infrequently surprise members of that long list of nieces and nephews with an up-to-date and on-the-spot knowledge of pop culture, most of it gleaned from years of inveterate late-night talk show viewing, from the age of Jack Paar to that of Jimmy Kimmel. After being a parishioner at Blessed Sacrament Roman Catholic church in Alexandria and Saint Anthony Roman Catholic Church in Arlington during the 1960s, in 1971, along with her cousin Elizabeth and two of her sisters and their spouses, Elsie became a founding member of Holy Transfiguration Melkite Greek Catholic Church in McLean, Virginia. From that time, she was a member of the Ladies Guild. She helped to run numerous parish events, including two annual institutions, the Lebanese Holiday Sweets Sale fundraiser and the Fall Food Festival. Over the years, she became a well-loved role model to the young women of the church community. Viewing and liturgy will take place at Holy Transfiguration Melkite Greek Catholic Church, 8501 Lewinsville Road, McLean, on August 7, 2019, at 10:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., respectively. Viewing and liturgy will then take place at Our Lady of the Cedars Melkite Catholic Church, 140 Mitchell Street, Manchester, NH, on a date to be announced soon, with interment following at the Saint Joseph Cemetery, 276 Donald Street, Bedford, NH. Donations can be made to Holy Transfiguration Church, “in memory of Elsie B. Ashooh.”