Al-anwar Newspaper English news in Australia
Born 15 March 1930, Passed away 11 September 2020
Beloved husband, father and grandfather, Nahme Utrush Sukkar passed away at home surrounded by his family in Melbourne, Australia.
Born in Sourgha, near the mountainous village of Becharre in Lebanon, he emigrated to Australia in 1956 and began his great adventure down under, being the only second person from the village to go to Australia.
He developed a great love for Australia and all it represented and it was the place he raised his beloved family, which he was completed devoted to. If family was important, his first love was for his wife, Khoussira, who was at the apex of his life and they shared 51 years of happiness after marrying in 1969 in Lebanon. Together they raised five children Elizabeth, Edward, Madeleine, Christine and Patrick, and then had the pleasure of seeing the coming of 10 grandchildren, Sarah, Luke, Jack, Rozi, Erika, Marchella, Leo, Sofia, Layla and Alice, ranging in ages from 14 to 1.
His yearning for Lebanon stood eternal and he kept a passion for the old country, its ways, the cedars of the mountains, and all the quirky and fierce stories of family and clan, through his flamboyant story-telling and great physical presence.
He will be remembered for being a dedicated and loving father and a pillar of the Lebanese community in Australia, where he helped people settle in a new country where the mantra was “a fair go for everyone” and that easy going Aussie character constructed on the knowledge that this country was built on generations of immigrants.
Firstly, in Sydney, he was instrumental in helping set up the early Becharre societies in the 1950s and 1960s that kept embryonic communities together so far away from home, and then later in Melbourne in 1970s to 1990s, as founder of the Becharre charitable society, where families came together and celebrated living in Australia. Many individuals made their passage to Australia in those years and he helped them settle and make a new life in the new country, his children remember these visitors and their deep and ongoing gratitude. Although, to his regret, he never returned to Lebanon, it forever lived in his heart and memories, while his true home was Australia.
He is survived by his wife, his five children and 10 grandchildren.
Written by Elizabeth Sukkar, London.
