Fay Elizabeth Ghorayeb

Fay Elizabeth Ghorayeb Naples, FL

Fay Elizabeth Ghorayeb, of Naples, passed away peacefully on July 5th, 2014, with family nearby, after a three year fight with Parkinson's disease.

Fay was born January 8th, 1936 to Claude and Venezia Seabrook, in Sydney, Australia.

She is survived by her husband of 50 years, Ibrahim ('Abe'); her two sons, Anthony (of Key Biscayne) and Mark (of Naples), daughter-in-law Maria (of Naples); and grandchildren, Fay and Karl.

Fay lived an exciting and adventurous life, having met Abe when they were both studying in New York. Fay was a registered nurse from Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, and was accepted for a scholarship at Columbia University's Teachers College. After her graduation, Fay worked at St. Luke Hospital in New York. Following their marriage in New York in 1963, Fay and Abe moved to Beirut, Lebanon, where a year later Anthony was born, with Mark following in 1965. Fay was a well-known socialite and philanthropist in Lebanon. Along with an Australian friend there, they founded the Australian Women's Club, around 1970. Always an avid reader, Fay became enamored with the Middle East, and was able to transcend this fascination into multi-national family road trips in the region tracing the Crusader routes and anything to do with Lawrence of Arabia.

With the advent of troubles in Lebanon in 1975, the family made moves to Jordan (for 3 months), and later to Nicosia, Cyprus, where they settled for the next 8 comfortable years. With U.S. colleges beckoning her sons, the family relocated to the New Brunswick, New Jersey area in 1984, with Abe being transferred by his long-time US employer.

Fay became active with the East Brunswick Garden Club, and also proudly enrolled at Douglass College (for women), at Rutgers University, where she pursued another degree in English literature and African American Studies. After graduation she became Coordinator for the acclaimed Women's Wellness Center at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital.

Eventually, her sons moved to Florida, but were unable to convince Fay and Abe to join them in Miami. Instead, in 1996, Fay and Abe settled in beautiful Naples. Fay became a member of Naples Women's Club. No surprise that she quickly rose to become President, from 2002-2004. She was a proud member of the P.E.O. sisterhood, and a volunteer (with Abe) at NCH. Fay had strong ties to her Australian roots (she was 4th generation Australian), and in addition to her pride at taking the United States oath of citizenship, Fay always held the Queen (and the Monarchy in general) in the highest regard. She was particularly proud to have been invited to a Buckingham Palace Summer Garden Party by her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.

For most of her last 30 months, Fay's homes were the Chateau at Moorings Park and then the Lakeside Pavilion Rehab Center. She was given excellent loving care throughout her stays there, and subsequently for her last days at Avow Hospice. She also received excellent treatment at NCH's Wound Healing Center for most of this time.

There will be a service at Trinity By The Cove, in Port Royal, on Saturday, 12th of July, at 11:00 a.m. Following, there will be refreshments at the church.

In lieu of flowers, Fay would have appreciated a gift to her (and her Dad's) preferred charity, The Salvation Army (3180 Estey Avenue, Naples, FL 34104, (239) 775-9447).