Mohamed Kassem Elkateb

In loving retrospect, we celebrate the life of our father, Mohamed Kassem Elkateb (Al-Khateeb). A long life, lived fully, honourably and beautifully.

Our dad passed away peacefully at his home in Maitland, NS on Friday, November 1st, 2024 at 88 years old.

Our father came to Canada April 1st, 1956, (he often joked that the joke was on him !) having lost both parents at a very young age. Within 2 weeks of landing in Halifax, he found a job with Canadian National Railways (CNR), joining one of the most powerful unions in the country and the building block of Canada, working mainly in freight, where he would stay on until he retired in September 1993. Dad worked all over the Maritimes, the Gaspé region and various parts of Quebec. He built life long friends at CN and in every place his work took him.

One of the founding members of the Lebanese Muslim community on the South Shore of Nova Scotia, Dad was very devoted to his cultural heritage, while embracing traditions of his new country that he loved. Devoted to volunteerism, he was a member of the Masons since 1967 as well as a Shriner.

Dad was a very social, kind and generous person who made friendships that lasted his lifetime. The door was always open in our home and there were always visitors. With his passing we have learned just how many peoples’ lives he touched and how much he was loved and respected.

Cribbage and cards were two of his favourite pastimes along with watching Hockey Night in Canada and "wrasling." You could often find him at a cribbage tournament across Nova Scotia or playing Whist at the Legion in Mahone Bay.

With little formal education, dad was self-taught. His collection of books centered around history, religion and politics. He read voraciously until the day he died. His memory and knowledge were unrivaled and he had an uncanny ability with math and numbers, a trait inherited by several of his children and grandchildren. A few weeks before his death he was interviewed for a research paper on the first Islamic Cemetery in Canada, established in Truro NS in 1938 and his recall of Lebanese families in Nova Scotia and the places they settled was astonishing. Very few people were a match for Dad when it came to his favourite show, "Jeopardy.", and he adored watching Judge Judy lay down the law.

To the core, dad's family was everything to him. He worked tirelessly to make sure he provided for his family.

He is survived by his children: Celwa (Reza Hosseini), Aisha (George Kapsalis), Fedwa (Paul Moore), Houda (former spouse Mario), Suehila (James Johnson), Moneir (Candice Monson), and his grandchildren: Stephanie, Olivia, Dariush, and Gabriel. He was predeceased by his wife of 63 years, our mother, Theeby, his siblings Dora Zebian(Lebanon), Ali Assaff (Western Shore), and Mariam Albwarshi(Lebanon), and his son-in-law Alexander Rybczyn (Lower Sackville).

We would like to thank the Department of Community Services of Nova Scotia, particularly Darin and Garrett, and the VON, for their care and support, and his close friends, Calvin Carter, Mohamed Ali and Houda Ali, and many, many others, for their close friendship and support to our Dad, particularly in the years following the passing of our Mom.

A celebration of his life will take place at the Western Shore Firehall in Western Shore, Nova Scotia, on January 11, 2025, 11 a.m. - 3 p.m..

Online condolences may be sent to the family by visiting: www.mahonefuneral.ca.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in his memory to Victorian Order of Nurses (https://von.ca/en/donation-form (choose Lunenburg County Branch), RAM Glaucoma Fund c/o QEII Foundation (https://www.grandchapterram.org/glaucoma-fund.html), The Shriner's Hospital, Montreal (https://www.shrinerschildrens.org/en/locations/canada).

Please inform the Family of your memorial contribution through this website. Your memorial donation payment may then be sent directly to the requested charity.

We miss you, Dad. We can't believe you are gone. We are comforted knowing you are now with Mom.