Philip Fadoul Nassief

If you spent a day hanging wallpaper with our dad, you would have known all there was to know about him. He envisioned what was possible, prepared to take on the task at hand, and executed his plan, usually to perfection. Along the way there would be a lot of blood, sweat and laughs, and some frustration, but there would always be that one moment at the end to step back and appreciate a job well done. And so it was with his life.

Philip Nassief was born on February 24, 1930 to Elias and Lena Nassief in Los Angeles. Elias emigrated with his family from Beirut, Lebanon when he was a child, settling temporarily in Mexico where they opened an ice cream store. Apparently ice cream, one of Philip’s lifetime loves, was in his family blood. Eventually the family moved to Los Angeles where Elias’ father peddled meat door to door. This led to owning his own butcher shop and then a family grocery store with a butcher counter in the back. Nassief Market, across the elevated platform from L.A. Union Station, was born.

Philip’s mother, Lena, was born in Los Angeles in 1908 to parents who had recently emigrated from the Lebanese villages of Douma and Baalbek. Lena met Elias (the butcher) when her mother sent her to the store to buy lamb. A ten-minute trip turned into an afternoon of conversation. They were married a few months later at St. George Orthodox Church and the following year, Philip was born. He was the first child born on either side of the family, and being the eldest child and a boy to boot, he lived the life of a prince as was customary in the Lebanese culture. But he also worked hard. Along with his sister Adele, one year younger, he began working in the store as soon as he was able to see over the counter. He stocked shelves, swept floors, and waited on customers. He and Adele were trilingual, learning English and Arabic at home and Spanish from the customers at the store. When they weren’t working or in school, they were always surrounded by family, constantly garnering the attention of their grandmothers, aunts, and uncles. Food, laughter, and love were abundant. What a time to grow up.

When they were teenagers during WWII, they would hear the troop trains pulling into the station across the street from the store and run to fill orders from the soldiers. They would toss bottles of milk and beer to them up the 20-foot wall and deliver chocolate bars, cigarettes and whatever else the soldiers wanted in a bucket on a rope. Philip was not a natural athlete, but he was a wizard with a yo-yo, an excellent skater, a top-notch ping pong player, and in time he became quite a good butcher in the family store.

He graduated from Mark Keppell High School in Alhambra in 1947 and was the first in his family to attend college, enrolling at Cal Tech to study engineering. The following year he changed course to study mathematics and made a decision that would unknowingly split his family for generations to come. When given the choice of transferring to USC and living at home or UCLA where he would live on campus, he chose independence and was Westwood bound. What was formerly an SC family became a house divided and has remained that way to this day!

His time at UCLA was interrupted when he enlisted in the Army, serving for two years in Germany. He returned home and graduated from UCLA with a degree in mathematics, and later earned a master’s degree in education from Cal State L.A. The rest of the 1950s were a whirlwind as he began his career in education as a math teacher, met the love of his life, Katie Nichols of Fontana, California, and got married in 1959. The 1960s brought two sons, Stephen and Mark, their first home in Van Nuys, and the founding of St. Michael Orthodox Church, Phil and Katie’s home away from home where they would spend the rest of their lives with their extended church family. Philip moved his family to their Tarzana home in 1971, living there for 55 years, well over half his life.

Philip advanced through L.A. Unified School District, changing assignments every handful of years from high school math teacher to counselor, head counselor, and assistant principal. In the late 1970s he became a principal for the first time at Maclay Jr. High School in Pacoima, and then later at Poly High School in Sun Valley before being promoted to district administrator where he headed the senior high school division for LAUSD. By the time he retired in the mid 1990s, he had spent 40 years in public education. Some of those years were turbulent but he always remained positive, driven by his unshakable belief in the potential of young people. “Give them a goal,” he said, “and they will reach it.” He had a special place in his heart for the children of immigrants because he was one, and he knew if they were given a chance, they would excel.

In retirement, Philip helped his sisters take care of their mother and he watched his family grow with two daughters-in-law (Edie and Alex), four grandchildren (Anna, Katherine, Samantha, and Luke), and to date, one great-grandson (A.J.). He and Katie traveled internationally, followed their beloved UCLA Bruins in football and basketball, rarely missing a home game over a 50-year span, and spent time with family and friends, especially their Gourmet Group pals that they got together with regularly for decades.

Along with his sons, daughters-in-law, grandchildren, and great-grandson, Philip is survived by his sisters Joyce Simon and Carole Wong, seven nieces and nephews, many cousins, seven Godchildren, and too many friends to mention. May his memory be eternal!