Wahbah A. Sayegh

Dr. Wahbah A. Sayegh, 73, of Benton Harbor, died at home on February 9, 2004. Services will be held at 1:00 P.M. Thursday at Starks & Menchinger Family Funeral Home, 2650 Niles Rd., St. Joseph. Entombment will follow at North Shore Memory Gardens, Coloma. Friends may call from 5-8 P.M. Wednesday at the funeral home. The local community may make memorials to Berrien County Cancer Service, the Druze Community may make memorials to the Michigan Druze Home. Those wishing to share a memory or sign the guest book online may do so at www.starks-menchinger.com. Born in Lebanon on February 1, 1931, Dr. Sayegh dedicated his life to the integration of ideas, the cultivation of understanding, and the expression of love in his work, his faith, and his family. Dr. Sayegh?s grandfather immigrated to the U.S. in 1910 and lived for 50 years in Seattle, Washington, working on the Northwest Railroad. Dr. Sayegh received his B.A. and M.A. in Education from the American University of Beirut and later his Ph.D. in Education from the University of Chicago. Intermittently, he headed teacher?s training colleges in Ramalah, (former) Palestine and Benghazi, Libya, and during this period he met his wife, Siham, and they married in 1961. After earning his doctorate in Chicago, Dr. Sayegh and his wife returned to the Middle East where he held positions as Professors of Education at both the Lebanese University in Beirut and the University of Jordan in Amman, publishing many articles and issuing several radio addresses on educational instruction and child development. He also worked for one year as a project director for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), a UN organization designed to carry out direct relief and work programs for Palestinian refugees. In 1967, Dr. Sayegh and his wife immigrated to the United States with their two daughters, where eventually, after a brief residence in Chicago, the family settled in Marquette, Michigan. Dr. Sayegh took positions as Professor at Northern Michigan University and as Coordinator for the U.S. Federal Title I program, a job devoted to the order and implementation of educational reform in the public school system. The Sayeghs moved to Benton Harbor in 1971, and Dr. Sayegh signed on as Director of Evaluation and Testing in the Benton Harbor Public School System and eventually also as Director of Personnel. While in Benton Harbor, Dr. Sayegh maintained his involvement with the U.N., this time with the Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), a program devoted to facilitating the progress, transfer and sharing of knowledge in undeveloped countries worldwide. Dr. Sayegh retired from public service in 1996. Page Two Outside of the classroom, Dr. Sayegh was appointed by the American Druze Society as chairman of its religious affairs. During his 15-year tenure, he worked tirelessly on the study of Koranic scripture to assemble an impartial representation of both the intricacies of the Druze faith and its rich history that could find audience with scholars and laity alike. During that period, Dr. Sayegh and his committee members published five books and several journal articles, some of which have found a permanent home in the University of Michigan Library. Dr. Sayegh received many awards throughout his lifetime for his dedication and service to his national heritage and to the Benton Harbor Community, honors that can only properly acknowledge a man whose goals became realities. He was a loving father, grandfather, brother, and son, a loyal and caring husband, a compassionate humanitarian, a brilliant scholar, and an inspirational teacher whose passion for fostering educational equality combined with his unparalleled work ethic impacted the lives of many different people. Outside traditional Arabic custom, Dr. Sayegh expressed his wishes to be buried in America rather than Lebanon, where he was born. He loved dearly the principles of freedom and opportunity he found in America, a country that provided him the resources and stability to raise his three loved children. The family became U.S. citizens in 1972. Dr. Sayegh is survived by his wife, Siham Saab, his daughters Suzan Sayegh Musleh (Amine), Hanan Sayegh Peters (Michael), his son, Nabeel Sayegh (Fatina), a brother, Toufic Sayegh of Lebanon, and four grandchildren, Omar, Sarah, Saleem, and Zachary.