Norfolk City Virginia USGenWeb Archives Obituaries.....Tahhan, Raymond Mikhail March 26, 2015
************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/va/vafiles.htm
************************************************

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Robert Woolfitt http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00034.html#0008401 April 11, 2022, 10:15 am

Virginian-Pilot  March 29, 2015
Norfolk - Raymond Mikhail Tahhan, 87, of Norfolk, Virginia, passed away Thursday, 
March 26, 2015, at the Health Care Center located at Harbor's Edge in Norfolk, 
Virginia. He was born on Tuesday, June 21, 1927, in Aleppo, Syria, to Mikhail 
Tahhan and Sadika Nahhas. He graduated from the Freres Maristes Catholic High 
School in Aleppo in 1945, and studied Theology at the White Fathers' Sainte-Anne's 
Seminary in Jerusalem, Palestine until 1949. After a brief career as a school 
teacher at the Mekhitarist Armenian School in Al-Hasakah, Syria, he went to the 
University of Damascus in Damascus, Syria, and graduated in 1957, with a 
Bachelor's degree in French Literature. He married his classmate and life mate 
Denise Bittar, to whom he had been engaged for three years, on July 12, 1957. He 
then earned a Master's Degree in Education from the University of Damascus in 
1958. He went on to graduate with a Doctorate in Comparative Literature and 
Linguistics from the University of Paris-Sorbonne in 1964, with High Honors. While 
in France, he also earned advanced degrees from the University of Paris in Arabic 
Practical Studies, Arabic Philology, French Literature, Arabic Literature, 
Phonetics, French Grammar and Philology, Foreign Literature, General Linguistics, 
Aesthetics and Art History, and Ethnology. He then taught at the University of 
Damascus until 1966, at which time he joined UNESCO in Brazzaville, Congo, heading 
UNESCO's educational project for the French Congo, Chad, Gabon, Cameroon, and the 
African Central Republic. After 1968, he went back to his passion as an educator 
and Professor, teaching at the University of Saint-Joseph in Beirut, Lebanon until 
1970, then at the School of Education of the Lebanese University in Beirut, 
Lebanon, serving as Chairman of the Languages Department for many years, until he 
retired in 1991. During summer breaks, he taught Arabic at ECWA in Beirut and at 
the UN in New York City. He came out of retirement in 1994, and resumed his 
passion of teaching Arabic to non-native speakers at Old Dominion University (ODU) 
in Norfolk, Virginia, until 2008. While at ODU, he also taught French. His 
students were thrilled to learn Arabic under his guidance, and many said he had 
the ability to teach Arabic to anybody. Raymond Mikhail Tahhan was a prolific 
author. He wrote a series of scholarly books that were used at Colleges and 
Universities across the Arab World. He authored ten books, and he edited many. His 
academic passions included Linguistics, Comparative Literature, and teaching 
modern Arabic. He was also an avid reader. His favorite hobby was to play 
backgammon with his sons and with his friends while discussing political and 
literary issues. He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Denise Bittar Tahhan, of 
Norfolk, Virginia; son Hassan Raymond Tahhan, MD and wife Randa Catherine Dumet, 
of Norfolk, Virginia; son Sami Georges Tahhan, MD, of Virginia Beach, Virginia; 
and grandsons Raymond Giorgio Tahhan and Anthony Michael Tahhan, of Norfolk, 
Virginia. He is also survived by his brother Jacques of Aleppo, Syria, and his 
sisters Violette and Jacqueline, of Aleppo, Syria. He was preceded in death by his 
parents, Mikhail and Sadika; his brothers Antoine and Aref; and his sister, 
Bertha. The family will receive friends at a visitation on Tuesday afternoon, 
March 31, 2015, from 3 until 4:00 p.m. at the Norfolk Chapel of H. D. Oliver 
Funeral Apts., 1501 Colonial Avenue, in Norfolk, Virginia. A Mass of Christian 
Burial will be held on Wednesday, April 1, 2015, at 11:00 a.m. at Blessed 
Sacrament Catholic Church, 6400 Newport Avenue in Norfolk, Virginia. Interment 
will be held immediately after the service, at St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery, 3000 
Church Street in Norfolk, Virginia. Donations in the memory of Raymond Mikhail 
Tahhan can be made to Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Norfolk, Virginia, or 
to Holy Transfiguration Melkite Greek-Catholic Church in McLean, Virginia. br/"But 
seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things 
shall be added unto you." Matthew 6:33. Online condolences may be offered to the 
family through www.hdoliver.com.

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/norfolkcity/obits/t/tahhan2393nob.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/vafiles/

File size: 4.8 Kb