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With Regrets
SUMMER
2012
35
We regret to inform you that Dr.
Kamel Fuad Muakkassa ’68
passed away on Sunday May 13, 2012 in Akron Ohio at the age
of 62. He was the founder,
president and CEO of
The Center for Neuro and
Spine Inc. (CNS) in Akron,
Ohio. In addition he was
the Chief of Pediatric
Neurosurgery at Children’s
Hospital of Akron and As-
sociate Clinical Professor of
Neurosurgery at Northeast-
ern Ohio Medical Univer-
sity. He most recently co-
founded Akron General’s
Neuroscience Institute.
IC staff and faculty send
their deepest condolences
to the Muakkassa family.
In Memoriam
During the past two months, these are the words I
have heard the most from my friends, relatives, and
even acquaintances since my father, Jacques Sawaya,
passed away: he was kind, generous, he listened, he
advised me, he helped me, he taught me things, he
always had a smile on his face, he
was always positive, he had so much
energy, he filled a room, he knew
so much about politics, he seemed
bigger than life, he was always a fine
gentleman, he was a humble soul…
To me, Rana, my sister, Zeina,
and my brother, Nadim, he was all
that and the best dad a child could
ever ask for. To our mother, Dalal
Asfour, he was the best husband a
woman could have had.They had
just celebrated their 50th wedding
anniversary last June and we were
all going to celebrate it together this summer. His
love for mom and us was endless. We mourn that
loss. He was, most of all, a devoted husband and
father.
Dad came to IC as a boarder when he was 12 years
old. From day one he fell in love with the school
and we, as children, knew every story of his esca-
pades with his friends. We knew the names of the
buildings; we even knew the names of his class-
mates. We enjoyed his stories and I can still see him
telling them to us.
After graduating from AUB, he joined IC as its
Director of Public Relations - a brand new job at
the time. He was with IC for 13 years.
In 1965, my father was awarded a Leadership Grant
by the U.S. State Department to visit America for
three months. He visited all the Ivy League schools
and the major universities from the West Coast
to the East Coast and everything in between. He
was very well received everywhere he went and
maintained friendships with many of the people he
visited. He came back to IC with fresh
ideas that were integrated into the IC
program. My father played a huge role
in promoting IC and obtaining scholar-
ships for needy and deserving students.
When we moved to Greece during the
Lebanese civil war, at which point my
father had already left his position at IC,
he remained faithful to his school. My
father started the IC Alumni Chapter
and was very active in his new role. A
few years later, he also became the presi-
dent of the AUB Chapter, promoting
both schools simultaneously.
Later on, my father went into the marble business. For
years and years he exported marble to Korea, China,
Japan, and the Middle East. In 2001, he retired to his
hometown Latakia, Syria, where he was very happy.
His retirement did not last very long as a few years
later, dad was asked to establish a branch office of
Solidarity Alliance Insurance company in Latakia,
where he excelled and was loved by all his employees
until the day he suddenly went into a coma and left
us all in shock.
It is with incredible difficulty that I write this note.
My father’s goal was always for us to have the best
education and he made sure of it. All three of us went
to wonderful universities and have had incredible ex-
periences throughout our education that he made sure
of giving us. My one-year at IC was unforgettable.
I am glad I had it as I am able to feel
what he felt during his time there.
Rana Sawaya Ryan ‘82
We regret to inform you that
Alfred E Nassar ‘48
passed
away in Aril, 2012 in NJ,
USA. IC staff and faculty
send their deepest condolenc-
es to the Nassar family.
We regret to inform you that
Samir Mishalany ‘42
passed
away in London, UK on May
6, 2012. IC staff and faculty
send their deepest condolenc-
es to the Mishalany family.