1922-2002
My name is Emile Najeeb Mahfood. My father was Najeeb Mahfood and my mother was Almaasa Hourani. They were both born in Jdeidet Marjeyoun, Lebanon. My father migrated to Jamaica in the West Indies in the early 1900's. Originally his family name was "Mahfouz", but on landing in Kingston, the port of entry, the Customs Clerk mistakenly entered his name as Mahfood.
He traveled around the country on a horse and buggy when he first started to peddle general merchandise. He saved enough money from this venture to open a small shop. The shop prospered and he brought Rizk, and Haseeb, two of his brothers, to Jamaica to work with him.
Around 1912/13 he went back to Lebanon and married Almaasa Hourani, one of the daughters of Shibley and Rakhia Hourani. He could not return to Jamaica, as the First World War was raging. Their union was blessed with two daughters and a son, Yvonne, Mary, and Kemal. He was able to return to Jamaica 1920. My sister Selma, my sister Pauline and myself were born in Jamaica.
Later, various Mahfoods migrated to Jamaica. My Uncle Faraj sent three of his sons, Saleem, Wadeeh and Yousef. Also, my Uncle Eid sent three of his sons, Murad, Saleem, (Father Paul) and Jad. Two of my father's sisters also sent children to my father, Habib Zayne, Milhim, and his brother Saleem Shadeed. These and many others came to Jamaica and lived in our home until they were able to strike out on their own.
In 1940 my father died. My mother had a brother, Haleem, and two sisters, Nabeeha and Najeeba, who lived in Texas and wanted her to emigrate there. In 1943 she decided to make the move. My mother, my sister Pauline and myself left Jamaica on a Pan American sea plane to Miami. We left Miami to meet Uncle Haleem who was waiting for us in New Orleans.
We were fortunate to be able to get tickets on the bus. The bus was packed with military men on furlough. My mother and sister were given seats but I had to stand most of the way. My Uncle was waiting at the bus depot with his youngest son Richard. We drove to Longview Texas. Shibley and Albert and Aunt Lorraine were waiting with a lot of relatives to greet and welcome us. We stayed in Longview for a week and then left for Wichita Falls Texas.
I must say that Aunt Lorraine was the most gracious hostess that I have ever known. After a couple of months my sister Selma came to Texas. We travelled to Wichita Falls Texas, the home of Aunt Najeeba and her husband, M'sallim Kouri. I lived in Wichita Falls until the fall of 1946 when I went to Detroit where I met and married MaryRose Rasak. She is a daughter of Louis and Rose Rasak.
We lived in Detroit where I worked in a Bank, and also for General Motors, and Chrysler Corp. We had four children born in Michigan, Phillip, Michael, Rosemary, and Michele.
In 1957 we moved to Texas, where my brother, Kemal, lived in Kilgore and where my son David was born. Altogether they have blessed us with (16) sixteen grand children and (six) great grand children. We decided to live in Longview, a city about 12 miles from Kilgore. We lived there till 1978 when we moved to Tyler Texas.
1995 was not a good year for us. We lost our Beloved Grandson Joshua Primeaux, and I had a stroke that left me slightly impaired; it affected my right side. However, every cloud has a silver lining. It has given me the opportunity to create "THE MAHFOODs FAMILY SITE" (This would have been a very difficult task without the expertise and help of my very good friend Hashem Y Hashem in Ottawa, Canada) and to meet and know through the wonders of the Internet a lot of family members.
I have made a list of my family tree to the best of my knowledge. If there are errors or if you have any information you can add to what you see please feel free to contact the webmaster. We want to make it as enjoyable for you as it has been for us to put this all together.