Rasha Shamoon: Celebrating a Life
Rasha Shamoon, 1976–2008
At about one a.m. on Tuesday, August 5, Rasha Shamoon, 31, received what would be fatal injuries when she was struck by an SUV while riding her bicycle home to Greenpoint, Brooklyn. When the paramedics arrived, she was not breathing. They revived her and transported her to the hospital.
For the next several days, her friends and family gathered at New York Presbyterian/Cornell Medical Center and waited for news. She never regained consciousness. On Saturday, August 9, Rasha was declared brain dead. On Monday, August 11, she was removed from life support after many of her organs went to help other people.
In the days since then, an amazing force has come together to honor Rasha and the deeplove of life she embodied. Her many, many friends have all worked tirelessly with herpartner, Josue Cedeño, also a longtime resident of Greenpoint, and with their families to put together a celebration of Rasha’s life in her community. We are having a New Orleans-style parade and wake that we have put together for this Saturday, August 16, 2008. The Hungry March Band will play the processionfrom St. Anthony–St. Alphonsus Catholic Church in Greenpoint to Coco 66 at 66 Greenpoint Ave. Rasha’s family and friends will come together to celebrate her life and the love we all have for her.
Rasha was a special person, and the love and concern that have surrounded her and her partner and family since she was first struck by the car are not surprising. She was born inBaghdad, Iraq, on September 1, 1976, to an Iraqi Catholic family. The Shamoons emigrated in 1978, going first to the United Kingdom. They lived in Edinburgh, Scotland,for a year and Coventry, England, until April 1982, when they immigrated to the UnitedStates, living first in El Cajon, California. They moved to Massapequa Park, New York,on Long Island, in 1985.
Rasha graduated from Massapequa High School in 1994. She attended James Madison University, in Harrisonburg, Va., where she earned a dual bachelor's degree in biology and psychology in 1998. She moved to New York City, living first in Manhattan, then the Bronx, before she and Josue came to Greenpoint in 2003.
In 2004, Rasha earned her first master’s degree, in biology from Hunter College of theCity University of New York. In May 2008 she earned another master’s in psychology(mental health counseling) from Brooklyn College. She was also a popular instructor of biology and human anatomy at LaGuardia Community College, Pace University, and Hunter College. The Department of Psychology at Brooklyn College and the Brooklyn College Foundation are establishing the Rasha Shamoon Memorial Scholarship to honor Rasha’s dedication, intelligence, and spirit.
Rasha was very active in the Greenpoint YMCA, where she and Josue were soon to receive their black belts in shotokan karate from Sensei Brian Singh. Rasha was a talented musician who played bass guitar and drums in several bands in New York City, most recently Quick Release. Rasha and Josue were also members of Transportation Alternatives and Times Up, progressive cycling organizations in New York City. She rode in several citywide bicycling events, including the Transportation Alternatives Century, a hundred-mile ride around the five boroughs.
She is survived by her partner, Josue Cedeño, a business analyst for Citi, of Greenpoint,Brooklyn; her mother, Samira Shamoon, a retired homemaker and social worker, and her father, Dr. Adel Shamoon, a retired orthopedic surgeon, both of Marion, Massachusetts;her sister Dr. Suhair Shamoon, a dentist of Marion, Massachusetts; and her sister and brother-in-law Dr. Saba Shamoon-Michaud, a pediatrician, and Dr. Jeff Michaud, an OB/GYN, and their children, Mira Cristina Michaud, 7, and Joel Shamoon Michaud, 5,of Mattapoisett, Massachusetts.
-Mike Haskell
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St. Anthony-St. Alphonsus Catholic Church862 Manhattan Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11222 US
Saturday, August 16, 11:00AM
This celebration and tribute will be an all-day event at multiple locations. Please join us in saluting our beloved Rasha.
Date: Saturday, August 16th from 11 am onward
Host: Josue Cedeno, 917-664-6672
11 am: Catholic Funeral Mass at St. Anthony-St. Alphonsus Catholic Church
Location: 862 Manhattan Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11222
In case you can't view the link, the procession walks from church south on Manhattan Avenue to Noble St., then to West St. and north to Greenpoint Ave., ending at the wake location, Coco 66.
Location: 66 Greenpoint Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11222
At the wake there will be presentations, readings, live music, speeches, reminiscences and food and drink. Coco 66 will run a cash bar, and we will have snacks. Full meals from the menu will be available from the restaurant next door.Please contact Josh Koehn, the emcee, ASAP at celebraterasha@yahoo.com if you would like to speak, sing, or perform at the wake. If you would like to write something for Josh to read, he will be happy to do so.Please bring:Brightly colored umbrellas and scarves for the New Orleans-style parade and any printed pictures of Rasha that we will add to a large collage at Coco 66. We will also have some extra umbrellas and scarves available.
2 comments:
Rasha, my sweet, the world was lucky to have you. Thank goodness we crossed paths. I love you and will miss you eternally.
-alison
You were the best professor I ever had. You were always happy, and your death upset all of your students terribly. It is such a shame that you passed away at such a young age. You will never be forgotten.
-Filiz Yilmaz
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