Saida Elizabeth Shaalan

Saida Shaalan was born Saida Elizabeth Albakri, in Fredrick, MD, to a Syrian father and an American mother. Her father was a chemical engineer whose job took the family back to Lebanon when she was young. There she blossomed and studied in Tripoli, a town in the North of Lebanon, and later moved to Beirut where she continued her studies and met friends with whom she forged lifelong relationships. She was graceful, modest, lovely to the core and warm. People gravitated towards her, drawn by her ever sunny smile, and friendliness.

Saida taught English in Tripoli for a short period. There followed periods at college back in the United States, where she met Abdel-Shakour Shaalan, who was studying at Columbia University. They were both cast in a play, where she was a dancer and he played the role of a groom. Saida graduated from the Parsons School of Design in New York City in 1952 and in 1953 married Abdel-Shakour Shaalan and continued their journey together ever since.

As they settled into their life together in Washington, D.C. close to her hometown, Saida traveled with her husband the world, and really appreciated the sights, the sounds and the societies of the regions she visited. They both traversed all continents, met with kings, presidents, prime ministers, merchants, and at times street vendors of places both exotic and ordinary. In 1981 she started a new career and joined the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in the US as a Regulatory Analyst and later became Energy Industry Analyst where she continued working until the time of her passing.

Saida valued her friends and derived great pleasure from her friendships. In personal appraisals she spoke only very kindly of people. She was gentle, sensitive and very sympathetic. Saida passed away on Wednesday, July 18, 2012. She will greatly be missed by everyone who knew and loved her.

On July 18, 2012; MRS. SAIDA ELIZABETH SHAALAN of Washington, DC; beloved wife of Mr. Abdel-Shakour Shaalan. Relatives and friends are invited to call at Joseph Gawler's Sons, Inc., 5130 Wisconsin Ave. NW, (corner of Harrison St.) Washington, DC on Monday, July 23, 2012 from 10 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. for a Memorial Gathering.