Emily Shihadeh

1941 - 2019

Emily Mansur Shihadeh

March 30, 1941 – March 11, 2019

Loving mother and grandmother, Emily passed away peacefully in the early morning of March 11, 2019 after living the latter part of her life in Colfax, Ca. She was born in Jerusalem, Palestine on March 30th, 1941; and, she was raised in Ramallah, Palestine up until 1958 when she married Shawki Shihadeh and immigrated to the exciting United States to start a new life and a family in San Francisco.

Emily was preceded in death by her parents Jirius and Ellen Mansur, her daughter Jennifer Shihadeh, loving sisters May Mansoor and Sina Hutchison, by Shawki Shihadeh, brother and sister-in-law Salem and Wadia Ghannam, nephew Zaki Farhat, nephews Usama and Ibrahim Ghannam, neice Sumayya(Josef) Angel, brother-in-law Essa Mansoor, companion Frank Blodgett, and her special friends Farha Mogannam and Leila Nazzal.

Survived by her sons Nicholas(Susan) Shihadeh and Mark(Kelley) Shihadeh, grandson Nico Shihadeh, former daughter-in-law Jaimie Vigil, adopted grandkids Sean(Emily), Jessica and Patrick Dwyer, great grandkids Devon Dwyer, Lana and Rio Smith, loving sisters Noel and Lamees Mansur, brother-in-law Albert Munn, nephew Jeff(Christy) Mansoor, neice Ellen(Gary) Collier, brother-in-law Donn Hutchison, nephew Ramzi(Zeina) Hutchison, neice Rana(Lee) Copeland, nieces Samira Farhat and Salma(Jeff) Keith, honarary nephews Bassam Shihadeh, Romel(Sahar) Shihadeh, and Ghassan Shihadeh, and her very special friend Leila Tawasha.

Emily was a full time mother and housewife while raising and supporting her kids in San Francisco. When she could, she would help out as a cashier at the family business (New Church St Market on Church and Day Streets in SF). She enjoyed being involved with the Friends Quaker Church in Berkeley, socialized with her friends when she could, and played tennis as well. Trips back to Ramallah were very special for Emily as it gave her a chance to reunite with her parents and sisters. As her kids got older, she decided to go back to school and attended SF State University finally attaining a Master's Degree in Counseling as she wanted to be a Marriage, Family, and Child Counselor. She really wanted to help people having done her share of social work in The City. She counseled here and there, worked odd jobs when she could (office manager, Arabic translator in the court system, bank teller, and even a cab driver for a bit), and she stayed busy making ends meet.

Emily was a fun loving person with a joyful spirit. She loved to tell jokes to anyone who would listen to them and laugh right after even if they weren't that funny. She expressed her creative side as she could play the piano and the auto harp, and she had a wonderful singing voice as well. Her claim to fame was the "one woman's show" she developed and performed called Grapes and Figs Are In Season. It was the story of her life growing up in "occupied" Palestine, getting married young and coming to America to raise a family, and just adjusting to the trials and tribulations of life. She really had those struggles, those trials and those tribulations in her life; but, she always managed to overcome them with help from friends and family.

Emily was also a friend of the SFPD, supporting law enforcement whenever she could. She would go up to any officer she would see in The City and ask them if they knew her son Officer Nick Shihadeh. She was always excited if they did, and till the day she died had a warm space in her heart for SF Police Officers. Bottom line, her life was meaningful and unique, and she tried to make others around her feel the same about their lives.

Special thanks go to caretakers Charles and Kimberly Mull for their compassion while caring for Emily. Thanks also go to the wonderful staffs at Sutter Auburn Faith Hospital (particularly Leslie) and at San Rafael Kaiser Permanente (particularly Becky and Katherine).

Emily's spirit lives on and her colorful life will be memorialized on Tuesday, March 19th, 2019 at DUGGAN'S SERRA MORTUARY, 500 Westlake Ave., Daly City, Ca 94014. Friends may visit at 6pm, with the service taking place at 7pm.