Josephine Rizkala Ballou

We are saddened to announce the passing of Josephine Ballou on March 17, 2024. “That is life”, one of her many signature statements, stays with us as we are reminded of the painful sting and inescapable life cycle that has now brought its turn to our beloved Josephine.

Josephine was the daughter of the late Razk Alla Gazala and the late Takla Halabie, and was the sister of the late Turma, George, Mamam, Jamil, and Joseph Gazala. She was married to the late Najib Ballou and had three sons—Ali, Ramiz, and Naseer. Josephine was also blessed with many grandchildren—Noel, Waseem, Layla, Haleem, Farrah, Lana, Fadi, and Joseph Ballou.

Many remember Josephine for her accomplishment as the first female engineer of Iraq. However, many don’t know the resilience and dedication she exhibited to ensure she would graduate. Josephine studied amongst a majority of men and only had two other women who were also in her university’s engineering program. Eventually, these women left the program unfinished and Josephine was left alone with the daunting task of paving a future of possibilities for aspiring female engineers. With her resilience, she was successful with this accomplishment and graduated in 1950.

Her commitment, however, did not stop after university. Rather, her successes continued as she used her intelligence and dedication to revolutionize Iraq’s railway system. For over 25 years, Josephine remained committed to her career, even praised by her colleagues and superiors as the “ideal employee”. At a time with limited support for females, Josephine meticulously and gracefully balanced each of her roles and showcased that it was possible to be dedicated to your career while excelling at motherhood.

Josephine could not have achieved these goals and titles of excellence without her pride and strength. Up until her mid-90s, Josephine was committed to maintaining her physical appearance. Every few weeks, she could be seen dying her own hair back to her signature black color and following her beauty rituals so she would always be pristine. Physically, Josephine’s strength was incomprehensible. Despite being a petite woman, her handshakes left those with much larger physiques clenching their muscles in surprise. Yet beyond her physicality, it was the weight of her words that truly held a substantial impact. She was one of the few people who could truly speak her mind and was unafraid to speak the truth.

Beyond these outward qualities, many do not know of the internal struggles that she faced. Josephine’s father, Razk Alla, passed away early in his life and she often recalled the difficulties she faced as she grew up without a father figure. Similarly, many of her siblings also passed away at young ages, and forced Josephine to grapple with loss during the early stages of her life. Therefore the feats she was able to produce, especially given the loss and tragedies she faced, is truly commendable. Sadly, however, these hardships were continuous into Josephine’s adult life. Of course, the wars in the Middle East played a huge role in dramatically changing the lives of those affected, and Josephine was no exception to this. For over 10 years, from 1980-1990, Josephine was unable to see her sons, Ali and Ramiz. Out of her desire to provide them with the best education, she sent them to the US to study, but unfortunately their contact would be severely limited. Over this decade, their primary form of communication was through letters; however, sometimes the occasional, choppy phone call was possible until the power went out again and their conversations were forcibly cut short.

Yet, the largest takeaway from these experiences is that although Josephine was a woman famous for her own education, her commitment to extending and influencing the education for the next generation of Ballou’s is debatably even more awe-inspiring. Not only did she sacrifice 10 years with her sons for the hopes that they’d have a top education, but the importance of school was continuously preached to her grandchildren.

Education and growth preceded every thought and interaction with Josephine. She always showered her loved ones with care, but somehow always found a way to sneakily integrate a lesson or educational opportunity. There were many nights where Josephine would sit with her grandkids and play cards, dominoes, and boardgames. And on the days where she would take care of them over the summer, she would shower them with an excess of food—usually curry chicken soup with pasta, that was quickly followed with salted cucumbers, popcorn, and lots of fruit (notably paired with another one of her famous sayings “Fresh from the tree to your mouth”). Once they were full, she’d spend the day teaching them to play chess, how to knit, and would quiz them on numbers and terms to make sure they’d be ahead of the class when they joined their new term. Her ultimate goal was that they’d all be “number 1” in their classes.

As the kids got older, there were little patterns they noticed about Josephine. Her grandkids, and now great-grandkids, would enter into a friendly back-and-forth proclaiming that they loved her more than the sky—to which she would always counter and say she loved them even more. For years, Josephine had been an avid pomegranate and fig fan, but she equally loved a container of dried chocolate covered fruits. And despite her old age, she tenderly cared towards her garden, a love that she passed down to her sons. Finally, the ultimate goal that all her loved ones could see, was that she just wanted what was best for kids and grand-kids.

The reason she did anything was for the sake of her family. Despite hardships, she’d reply with “Alla Kul Hal, hatha Al Maujoude” and move on with the hopes of a better future. Josephine inspired all who encountered her, and she left her mark through the love and stories she shared. Truly, her resilience, perseverance, and wisdom lives on with all that have been lucky enough to meet her, and the world is blessed to have witnessed the impact that Josephine has left.

Ceremony & Burial on March 28th, 2024 at 10AM at the Chapel of Roses,

Oak Hill Funeral Home & Memorial Park

300 Curtner Ave, San Jose, CA 95125

Followed by Mercy Meal at,

Agape Grill & Bar

845 Stewart Dr A, Sunnyvale, CA 94085