Issa Adely

1935 - 2017

Adely, Issa

Issa Adely, father, grandfather, jokester, union man, churchgoer, died Sunday, September 3, 2017 at age 81 after a brief illness at White Plains Hospital.

Issa, of Yonkers, was surrounded by family, whose lives were made whole and happy by his guidance, love and hard work.

Issa was born September 9,1935 in Fuheis, Jordan to Saleem and Shaika Adely. After a year as a seminary student in Bethlehem, Issa became a schoolteacher crossing the West Bank and Jordan to develop rural schools.

He came to the U.S. in 1965, working in security, stores, factories and restaurants, later opening his own store, to support seven children through Catholic school and college. He helped many more family members build a life in the U.S.

Issa was a union leader, fighting for workers' rights until their plant closed in 2008.

He loved his wife of 47 years so deeply he hardly left her side, although he hated to see her win their nightly card game. He watched news all the time with deep concern about the Arab world.

He escaped death before, once accidently shot at a wedding and once felled for six hours by a bad anesthesia reaction, incidents that became famous dinner-table stories.

Issa was generous, caring for family and a giver of charity. He will be missed deeply.

Issa is predeceased by his brothers Mousa and Yousef.

He is survived by his loving wife, Ibtisam; his daughters Fida, Suzanne, Hannan, Kathy, Amy, Lena and his son Tariq; sons-in-law Aiman Haddad, Jason Steinberg, and John McGuinness; his granddaughters Laila, Samar, Amira and Raina; brothers Jereis, Elias, Boulos and sisters Shama, Shama'a, Muneera and Sameera; and many nieces and nephews. Visiting hours will be held at the Flynn Memorial Home, 1652 Central Park Ave. in Yonkers, from 4-9 p.m. Tuesday.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 6 at 10 am, at St. Mary's Good Shepherd Church in Yonkers. Burial will follow at Mount Hope Cemetery , 50 Jackson Ave., Hastings-on-Hudson. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be given to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.