Hachemi Saada

A 77 ans, Hachemi Saada, l’un des doyens des Tunisiens établis depuis longue date aux Etats-Unis, nous a quittés, ce 7 juin. Faisant partie des premières promotions d’étudiants envoyés au lendemain de l’indépendance en 1958, il poursuivra ses études de langues à l’université du Texas à Austin, puis celle de Minnesota où il décrochera son mastère. De retour en Tunisie, il commencera alors une carrière d’enseignant, avec le Corps de la Paix ce qui le conduira à accompagner ce programme en Europe où d’ailleurs il fera la connaissance d'Elizabeth (Belge) qui deviendra son épouse, avant de revenir s’installer aux Etats-Unis. Il enseignera notamment à la prestigieuse université de Princeton et fera une brillante carrière dans la traduction et la rédaction. Son épouse Elizabeth qui lui a donné deux filles (Dalila et Nadine), lui rend un vibrant hommage, partagé avec émotion par tous les membres du Tunisian Community Center.

On June 7, 2010, my husband of nearly 46 years, the love of my life, passed away after battling complications from surgery. My sorrow is beyond words, the void immense. The road ahead without him is uncertain. But one thing I know with certainty is that he would want me, and all of us, to pull through and move forward. In my tribute to him I want to remember the man who swept me off my feet 46 years ago; the man who made me laugh and whose smile I could not resist; the man who did not let a day go by without asking me “When is the last time I told you I love you?” I want to celebrate the father of our daughters, Dalila and Nadine; the grandfather to our grandchildren Jeremy, Jasmine and Benjamin. For all of his professional accomplishments, Hachemi loved his family first and foremost.

How and where we met always left people surprised, a bit incredulous and with reactions punctuated by “Wow”, “No way”, “Unbelievable”, “How wonderful”. There was something magical in telling our story of how a Tunisian and a Belgian met in Salt Lake City, Utah, and were married one month after meeting each other! That’s the stuff of romance novels!  I met my future husband for the first time on a bright and sunny morning in June 1964 as I came to an orientation class given by Hachemi and required of all French instructors hired for the Peace Corps language training program. That’s how a Tunisian and a Belgian met in June 1964, fell heads over heels in love and were married at City Hall in Salt Lake City one month later!

Many said it wouldn’t last. But it did. This July we would have celebrated our 46th wedding anniversary!

Hachemi was one of only two students from Tunisia to earn a national scholarship to study in the US in 1958. He completed his undergraduate degree in Linguistics and English at the University of Texas at Austin in two years. He went on to the University of Minnesota where he enrolled in a Masters Degree program in Linguistics and Philology. He returned to Tunisia shortly thereafter and was hired by the Peace Corps/Tunisia in Tunis. Dick Graham, Peace Corps director, put Hachemi in charge of teaching and developing language instruction and testing for French and Arabic. Hachemi also taught Tunisian culture to Peace Corps volunteers in Tunisia. It was Dick who sent Hachemi to the Peace Corps Language Training program in Utah in the spring of 1964.

Tribute to Hachemi (Hank) Saada.
(June 1, 1933 – June 7, 2010)
Written by his wife, Elisabeth Saada.

 

After Utah we went to Princeton University where Hachemi was involved with another Peace Corps Language Training Program. At the end of that training we left to go back to Tunis, Tunisia. In Tunis, Hachemi continued to work for the Peace Corps. During that year (1964-1965) our daughter, Dalila, was born at the Ben Youssef clinic in Carthage. While living in Tunis, Hachemi was offered a position to teach at the University of Minnesota and in June 1965 we came back to the United States. Our first stop was Brown University where Hachemi participated in another Peace Corps Training Program. At the University of Minnesota Hachemi taught Arabic, French and Linguistics. He also completed his Masters Degree in Linguistics and Philology in 1967. Our second daughter, Nadine, was born in Minneapolis. From Minnesota we moved to Lubbock, Texas where Hachemi was assistant professor of Arabic and French at Texas Tech. A year later we arrived in Philadelphia where we would remain for the rest of our lives. Hachemi pursued his PhD at the University
of Pennsylvania, but when he was offered a position with Educational Testing Services (ETS) he opted to take the position.

 

During his years at ETS, he traveled extensively around the world for various projects. He went to Afghanistan twice and in 1979 he left Kabul on one of the last planes before the Soviet Union invaded!

 

Eventually Hachemi left ETS and went into the field of technical writing. As a technical writer he worked for many national and international companies writing and developing technical manuals and procedures. He was a prolific writer. He had a way with words and he loved to find the etymology of words as well as their equivalents in other languages. As a linguist his connections with languages went well beyond the ones that he spoke fluently (Arabic, French & English). He wrote a column for the monthly newsletter of the Society of Technical Communication. He was a staff reporter for a local newspaper (The Advisor, now defunct).

 

After the 30th Peace Corps reunion in 1993, Hachemi started Camel Letter. He loved to put each issue together and looked forward to receiving materials from Peace Corps volunteers to work on the next issue.

 

In his retirement years, his work as editor of Camel Letter brought him great satisfaction and enjoyment. Those years were also filled with many of the interests he enjoyed all his life. He loved music and singing. He could burst into singing at any time. His ability to remember all the words to Arabic, French and English songs from so long ago was amazing. He retained a love for technology. In fact, on the morning of the last day he spent at home, December 30th 2009, he checked his email and looked for interesting news bits on the Internet, which he printed and read to me at the breakfast table. He never stopped telling jokes and his great sense of humor never abandoned him.

 

He was a man of great intelligence and intellect; his conversations continued to be thought-provoking and stimulating. Traveling was another one of his lifelong interests. Our reunion with his family in Tunisia in September 2005 was truly the trip of a lifetime. Unfortunately at the end of October 2005, Hachemi underwent heart surgery that would be the turning point that changed his life irrevocably. Hachemi went on to recover from this surgery, but never fully. This led to his decision to retire Camel Letter. This was not an easy decision. His enthusiasm for Camel Letter never
diminished but it became clear that he needed to give up Camel Letter as well as his involvement and activities with the Tunisian-American community.

 

On June 7, 2010 Hachemi lost his battle with complications of another surgery he underwent on December 31, 2009. His parting leaves a huge void. I came across a meditation the other day that simply said “If you love me, let me go”. That is exactly what Hachemi would say. He would want us to remember him laughing, joking, singing and smiling. That smile that seduced me so long ago is the smile I will keep in my heart forever.