Tracy Kaleel

Theresa Virginia Kaleel (Tracy) was born February 13th, 1943 in Rangoon, Burma to Doreen Virginia and Cyril Alan Pybus. She was the 5th of 10 children, and received her education at St. John’s Convent, a boarding school in Rangoon, due to the traveling nature of her father Cyril’s job working for the railway.

After completing her education, Tracy initially found work at E.M. DeSouza & co, a pharmaceutical firm where she found a mentor and close friend for life, Philomena Aung. She later worked as a secretary at the Phillipine Embassy in Rangoon, but left Burma for England with her sister Mary in 1964 in search of a better future than may have been possible in 1960s Burma.

Tracy worked for the publishing company, IPC on Fleet Street, and had many friends in the Burmese community in London. After some time adjusting to life in Great Britain, she met her future husband, Aslam, a Chemical Engineering student who lived in Southampton, but had a summer job selling socks at London’s famous Harrod’s department store. Over the next several years, Tracy and Aslam formed a special bond despite living many miles apart. They eventually married in August of 1973 at the home of their dear friends, Philomena and Tayza Aung, in Canvey Island, England.

In October of 1974, Tracy and Aslam had their first child, their son Reza, and soon afterward Aslam completed his Masters degree and accepted his first position as a Chemical Engineer — this time in New York City! The couple had heard good things about America, and felt a move to New York could be a great adventure for a young family. NYC did not disappoint. With a new born baby and little else, the couple explored their new home and surroundings, camping in the Catskills, and making new friendships that have literally lasted a lifetime.

In January of 1978, Tracy gave birth to the couple’s daughter, Shirin, during a snow storm while living in New Brunswick, New Jersey - their second American home.

Through Aslam’s job opportunities, the late 70’s and early 80’s brought several moves and adventures across America. The family relocated to Massachusetts, Oklahoma, and Texas, where more deep friendships were formed, largely due to Tracy’s warm, generous, fun-loving and genuine spirit.

Friendships and wonderful memories across the country made the next dramatic job related move — to Jubail, Saudi Arabia, on the shores of the Arabian Gulf - a tough decision for the family, but once again Tracy was up for the adventure and made sure that the potentially strenuous move was a positive and fun experience for the kids.

The family wound up spending 6 years in Saudi Arabia, with Tracy fully immersing herself in activities with the expatriate community - charity work supporting UNICEF, activities with the American international schools that her kids attended, and organizing various camping and beach adventures in the relatively undeveloped area. Once again, largely due to Tracy’s ability to connect with people, lifelong relationships were formed - this time with expatriates from all over the world.

Perhaps most importantly, the move to Saudi Arabia gave Tracy and the family unprecedented access to international travel, which allowed Tracy to finally spend some time in Perth, Australia - where her sister Sybil had settled down in the 1970s. In the early 1980’s, around the time that Tracy and the family made the move to Saudi Arabia, her mother and 3 other sisters (Beryl, Tina, and Janet) were able to emigrate from Burma and join Sybil and her family in Australia. After 20 years without seeing any of them, reuniting with her Mother and Sisters in Australia was one of the greatest joys of Tracy’s life. Many happy visits to Australia have taken place over the years since, as well as visits to America by her Australian family - including her Mother, Doreen, before her passing.

After 6 years of living abroad, Tracy and her family decided that “enough is enough” as Tracy was fond of saying, and returned to the U.S. in 1989.

By the time Tracy arrived at her final residence in Houston, TX in 1991, her life’s journey from Burma at age 19 had taken her to England to meet the love of her life, across another ocean for an American experience as rich as any, and around the world as an expatriate and traveler, all the while raising her two children, to whom she was absolutely devoted.

Over the past 24 years in Houston, Tracy continued with her adventures and unparalleled love and support of family and friends, acting as a rock and center of all things for her husband and children. During this last part of her beautifully and lovingly lived life, Tracy was able to:

Support both of her children, the “sunshine of her life” as she often said, as they successfully graduated high school, university, and moved on to careers of their own.

Welcome a son in law, Alistair, and daughter in law, Shawn to the family as both of her children got married, and started new lives and adventures of their own.

Perfect her skills as a gourmet cook in her own right, creating many new recipes, wonderful meals, and holiday memories for her family and many friends that will last forever.

Start a vending machine business that she successfully managed for a period of time.

Survive and thrive after fighting through a rare life threatening illness around the year 2000.

Continue traveling internationally, including Australia, Sri Lanka (where Aslam is from), visiting her daughter while on assignment in Egypt and Jerusalem, and living for a short period in Maastricht where Aslam was on work assignment.

Make numerous trips to Washington D.C. (to visit her daughter and son in law), San Antonio, and Grand Junction, CO, where her son and daughter in law now reside, for many more memorable adventures.

In July of 2014 welcome her grand daughter, Harper Joy, the latest “sunshine of her life”, and shower her with love and memories to last a lifetime, converting her craft room at her Houston home into a beautifully decorated nursery for Harper.

Our beloved Wife, Mother, Sister, and Nana Tracy passed away unexpectedly on the evening of October 10th, 2015 after a brave fight against a devastating illness that finally overcame her. The loss for her family and friends is enormous, but we take comfort in a lifetime of beautiful memories, knowing that Tracy/Mom has found eternal peace with God and the Angels in Heaven.

In lieu of flowers please consider donating to the following in Tracy's memory:

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

St.Jude.org

Doctors Without Borders

doctorswithoutborders.org