30 October 2013

BEIRUT: Even if she hadn’t towered at an estimated six feet tall, Catherine Bashshur had a presence that could fill a room. As a teacher and later head of the American Community School, Bashshur shepherded the institution through the worst of the 1975-90 Civil War, confronting naughty students and militiamen with equal aplomb. Bashshur passed away Monday at the age of 75, leaving behind countless friends, family and former students and colleagues to remember her unwavering passion that kept the school open throughout the war.

“She was a very tall woman who was majestic, graceful and commanded respect when you saw her,” recalled Fadwa Ghannoum, the head of development and alumni relations at ACS who looked up to Bashshur as a mentor.

At one point during the war, part of the school property was occupied by Syrian soldiers, with whom Bashshur regularly had to contend.

“Just imagine an American woman, who stands out already because she is so tall, being able to handle these men – it’s unheard of,” Ghannoum exclaimed.

Bashshur was born Catherine Carlin in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1938. She discovered her passion for teaching early on and in 1962 was in the midst of her teacher training in Chicago when she met Munir Bashshur, a Lebanese Ph.D. student.

According to their daughter, Maria Abunnasr, it was love at first sight – for one of them at least.

“The first day he met her, he told her he was going to marry her,” Abunnasr told The Daily Star.

But fiercely independent Catherine had other ideas. After two years of friendship, she came to Lebanon in 1964 on a speculative visit.

“Her famous saying was that she came [to Lebanon] with ‘no strings attached,’” Abunnasr said. “She paid for her own ticket and if she liked it she would look for a job, and if not she would go back home.”

She soon fell in love with the country and her patient suitor, and the two were married in December of that year.

In the meantime, Catherine Bashshur had found a job teaching English at ACS, which opened in the early 20th century to educate the children of foreign faculty of the American University of Beirut, then the Syrian Protestant College. She continued to teach there for the next 20 years while raising their two children, Michael and Maria.

When, in 1984, she was offered the position of head of school, Bashshur accepted, intending to keep the school open at all costs.

“It was on a day-by-day basis really, and I was eternally optimistic that [the war] would end,” Bashshur told The Daily Star in a 2003 interview on the occasion of her retirement. “There’s also the fact I had people counting on me. The kids didn’t have the option to leave. I did have that option, but I chose to stay, and I have no regrets about it.”

When the fighting posed too great a risk for some students, Bashshur arranged to have teachers drop off lessons for pickup throughout the city. She also pushed the school to offer the Lebanese baccalaureate and start accepting Lebanese students who were not dual citizens.

“She was really against closing the school because she knew how important it was for kids to come to school and feel they had a home and a sense of stability,” Abunnasr said. “Her heart and soul was in it.”

Following news of Bashshur’s passing, current Head of School Hamilton Clark issued a statement to the ACS community mourning her death.

“Catherine sustained our school during the Civil War and I believe it is fair to say that without her foresight, commitment, dedication and perseverance, ACS may well have ceased operation,” Hamilton wrote.

Many former students have taken to social media to pay their respects.

Lina Mounzer, who graduated from ACS in 1995, posted a tribute on Facebook recalling how the school was a “haven” for children growing up in Beirut during the war.

“She saved us from the worst: from war’s mundane thievery of future and ambition,” Mounzer wrote. “The world is a poorer place without her; the world is a richer place for her.”

Karen Kalou, who attended ACS from 1992 to 1998 during its postwar reconstruction, also spearheaded by Bashshur, remembered her as an empathetic guide and source of support.

When Kalou hit a rough patch in high school, Bashshur took a personal interest, advocating on Kalou’s behalf to her parents and encouraging her to pursue her passion for photography.

“She said [to my parents] ‘your daughter is gifted. She has something very special and you need to listen to her,’”said Kalou, who is now a professional photographer. “She wasn’t your typical principal where you are afraid of her; she was very approachable.”

Funeral services for Catherine Bashshur will be held Wednesday at 3 p.m. at the Evangelical Church facing the Grand Serail. Condolences will be held Wednesday to Friday from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Evangelical Church’s Charles Saad Hall.

Copyright The Daily Star 2013.