Frieda Mae Hasen

Frieda was born in Michigan City, Indiana, on Dec. 23, 1939, to Hussien Hussien Ayad and Jamalia (Habhab) Ayad.

Farida, Arabic for "one of a kind," was the fourth of five children. In her early years, the family lived upstairs from the grocery store that her father ran. The children spent many happy hours helping in the store, hearing their father's stories and wisdom, and with their mother around the kitchen table learning to cook. Life revolved around their extended family and Lebanese immigrant community.

In her teen years, she was active with swimming and basketball. She loved John Wayne movies and sometimes convinced her older sister, Inez, to go with her to the same picture multiple times.

In the fall of 1959, Frieda was volunteering at an Arab youth convention near her home when a handsome young man came to her registration table and struck up a conversation. His name was Ronnie Hasen and he had traveled from Rolla, North Dakota, to attend the convention. He asked her out for coffee later that day and by the end of the year they were engaged. They were together from that day on until his death in 2010. On March 12, 1960, they were wed in Michigan City, where many friends and family gathered to celebrate. It was a very happy day!

The couple made their home in Rolla where they raised two children and ran the retail clothing store started by Ronnie's father in 1942, The Golden Rule. They were partners in every way and worked together hand in hand until they sold the store and retired in 2001. Frieda loved working at The Golden Rule and excelled at managing the women's department, buying, merchandising and creating displays, among other responsibilities.

After Ronnie died, Frieda moved to Tacoma, Washington, to live near her family. In 2018, she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and she died peacefully on Nov. 5, 2024.

She was preceded in death by father and mother; brother, Abraham Ayad; and husband, Ronnie. She is survived by her sisters, Faye Hall and Inez (Hubert) Dreckmann; brother, Richard Ayad; children, Najeea (William) Leslie and Ali Debaji; granddaughter, Sophia Debaji; and several Leslie step-grand and step-great-grandchildren.