Suhaila Dimis Matar was born in Beit Jala, Palestine, on 17 August 1930. She was the second child of Wadi Dimis, a local Palestinian political leader from a peasant background with an entrepreneurial spirit, and AltaGracia Barsona, a gentle beautiful Dominican woman of Lebanese descent known for her elegance and beauty. Suhaila grew up with her siblings in Beit Jala in a loving environment although the country was going through major unrest and violence as a once united nation became divided over religious and racial lines.
Suhaila’s childhood, for the most part, was pleasant as were her years spent studying at the Teachers Training College for Women in Jerusalem where the great Palestinian intellectual and poet, Salma Al-Khadra, taught her. Suhaila, a beautiful young woman, was a gifted scholar who excelled in math and sciences, subjects she would later teach, and a talented musician. Her love of the piano and her dedication to learning it to the highest levels would stay with her and sustain her for many years to come.
Suhaila met her husband Henry Matar, himself of mixed parentage (a German mother and a Palestinian father) in her early 20s. Henry was a scholar enamored of world literature, particularly English literature, history and politics in ways that would bring him recognition from hundreds of students and generations to come. They married in 1952 and their eldest daughter Aida was born a year later, to be followed by five other children (three more girls and two boys) over a span of 17 years. Suhaila gave up teaching to bring up the children and the couple moved to London in the late 1950s for Henry to continue his education and to work with the BBC Arabic service. For a young beautiful émigré, London had a lot to offer, and she sought to live life to the full, but being away from her home and family would eventually take a toll on her and she longed to go home. Back in Jordan, she continued to support her husband and family. She liked living in Amman, Jordan as she could raise a family away from tension and war, but also pay regular trips to her hometown to visit her parents and siblings, as she adored them. Unfortunately, these trips became more difficult when the West Bank and Gaza were occupied and the weekly trips across the Jordan River were no longer possible.
Suhaila was known for her generosity and love of people – her home was always open to friends, family and neighbors, including dozens of Palestinian and Jordanian families affected by the wars and/or struggling for recognition and equality.
When her children were youths, Suhaila went back to full-time work, joining UNRWA as a science and math teacher primarily while also giving refugee children the joy of music through piano performances and lessons. She later began teaching music and performance at the Rahbat al-Wardiya (Rosary College) school in Amman, organizing joyful events for schoolchildren of various ages.
It was in the 1990s that Suhaila made her most important and daring decision, agreeing to move the family to Montreal to join some of her children. At the age of 60, she embraced a new life with an ailing husband and son to join her daughter and other son in Canada. In her adopted country, she did not stop learning and giving, taking French lessons and piano classes and excelling in both.
Suhaila was struck by a cruel illness that sapped her energy, but not her spirit. She remained the most generous person and loving mother and grandmother, and continued her quest for learning through reading extensively. Just one day before she passed away, she asked her grandson to bring her a new book to read.
Her sister, Lydia, who remained in Beit Jala, her six children, Aida, Dina, Maha, Nuha, Amer and her beloved Issam and her nine grandchildren, Hassan, Zaid, Paul, Wren, Henry, Dima, Laith, Natasha and Nicholas, survived Suhaila. They will always remember her for her wisdom, her tolerance of difference, her serenity, her support and enduring love in good and bad times. Bless her soul.
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