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Emil J. Shihadeh died at his home Saturday, February 1, 2014. He was 78. Mr. Shihadeh was a lifelong resident of Ardmore. He was born in Bryn Mawr Hospital, the youngest of three boys, to Jacob Harris Shihadeh and Fadwa Atallah Shihadeh, both immigrants from Palestine. Mr. Shihadeh attended Wynnewood Road Elementary School and Ardmore Junior High School. He graduated from Lower Merion High School in 1955. He was known for his prowess as a wrestler, winning titles in the lighter weights in both junior high and high school. After his graduation, he enlisted in the United States Air Force during the Korean War, where he served overseas and stateside repairing airplanes and fabricating metal parts. When he was honorably released from active duty in 1959, he took his skill in metal fabrication into his work as a salesman and instructor with R. S. McCracken and Sons, Inc., a welding supply company. He continued to serve in the Air Force Reserves until 1961. In 1973, Mr. Shihadeh felt the call to become a teacher. He taught metal fabrication in several high schools and adult education classes. In 1977, he began to teach at Marple Vocational Technical School where he set up their first metal fabrication shop and curriculum. He taught there for 14 years, devoting great personalized and individualized attention to his students, who achieved the highest proficiency ratings in industry measures. He introduced advanced and emerging techniques, using new metals and machinery, until the school closed in 1990. Mr. Shihadeh also enjoyed teaching at Delaware County Community College. He was especially proud of his students' successes and enjoyed visits from them. His family recalls Mr. Shihadeh being particularly pleased with tales of well paid underwater welding adventures. While Mr. Shihadeh was an instructor, he attended Temple University in the evenings to receive his teaching degree in 1975, and subsequent certificates and masters equivalencies in 1979 and 1981. Mr. Shihadeh married his beautiful Irish bride Grace Marie Rodgers in 1960, and settled into their home on Simpson Road. There they raised three children, Karen, Sandra and Edward. Mr. Shihadeh relished life surrounded by family with his mother, Fadwa, living in the family home until her death in 1999. His brother Fred H. Shihadeh and Fred's wife Elke, both bookbinders of rare manuscripts and other publications, were neighbors until Fred's death in 2004 and Elke's recent death in January of this year. Mr. Shihadeh was a lover of music, enjoying Frank Sinatra and Latin, world, classical and operatic music, making sure to enjoy his selections on the latest high fidelity technology. He was a master at crossword puzzles and enjoyed peaceful moments fishing. Mr. Shihadeh was known for his dry sense of humor and his devotion to providing for his family. He is survived by Grace, his wife of 53 years, his children, Karen Schaufeld and her husband Fred, Sandra Shihadeh and her fiancée Tamar Datan, Edward Shihadeh and his wife Jane, and his grandchildren, Haley Schaufeld, Jacob Schaufeld, Max Schaufeld and Jordan Shihadeh, all from Leesburg, Virginia. He is also survived by his sister-in-law, Jacquelin Shihadeh of Rhinelander, Wisconsin, recent widow of Emil's brother, Edward Shihadeh. His Funeral Service will be held on Sat. Feb. 8th, 11 AM in the Chadwick & McKinney Funeral Home, 30 E. Athens Ave. Ardmore, PA, where you may call after 10 AM. Interment will take place on Monday at 1 PM in St. Paul's Lutheran Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in his memory to either The Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades(www.williamson.edu) or USO(www.uso.org)

Tributes

Emil J. Shihadeh

June 17, 1935 - February 1, 2014