A Trip to Kfeir
                                                   Story and Pictures from Shirley Nasser

I’m the daughter of Toufeek and Margie (nee Zouhary) Nasser from Huntington WV.  My father was born in Kfeir in 1898 and emigrated at the end of WWI in 1920.  My Mother emigrated from Latakia, Syria at age 12 with her family to Toledo, Ohio.  My parents met on a blind date at a Kfeirian Reunion in Toledo, OH and married in 1942.  One of my father’s sisters had six children, five of which emigrated to Prince Edward Island, Canada and one stayed in Lebanon, Emily Nasrallah (nee Rashed).  

I went to Beirut in February 2018 to visit Emily and her children and wanted to share some pictures of Kfeir and my visit. Emily Nasrallah was a world renowned author and wrote many books about the migration of Lebanese from the village and the country.  https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/16/obituaries/emily-nasrallah-dead.html

Unfortunately, Emily Nasrallah passed away in March, but I was fortunate to visit and spend time with her before her passing.  The family still owns the house in Kfeir, and is converting it to a future community museum of information.  A dream of a lifetime came true on this trip – to visit Kfeir and the house and village my father grew up in.  Emily’s daughter, Maha Nasrallah, her husband Wassem Keys, and I went to Kfeir.  Believe it or not, descendants of my Grandfathers siblings still live in Kfeir!

A few photos are included in the slideshow below:

• Maha and me
• Meeting cousins in Kfeir
• My father’s family home in Kfeir
• View of the Mediterranean in the Hamra

Shirley Nasser