Mary Ann (Einig) Sabbagh

Mary Ann (Einig) Sabbagh, 86, of Needham passed away at sunrise in Boston on May 25, 2022 into the arms of her Lord, and her beloved Eddie. Mary Ann was born on February 24, 1936 on a farm in Reed City, Michigan. After graduation from Catholic Central High School in Grand Rapids she worked for an insurance company and was introduced to a salesman from Boston, a city she had admired. He bought tickets to a concert to ask her on a date after overhearing Louie Armstrong was her favorite musician, then a train ticket to Massachusetts for a sightseeing visit. She was greeted at South Station with a proposal and married on September 20, 1958 at a chapel in Revere.

 Eddie and Mary Ann lived in a two-story apartment in Roslindale with their four children, then moved in 1974 to her home in Needham. While raising her children she worked for the family business, the Cyclone rollercoaster and concession stands at Revere Beach, and other small companies in bookkeeping. She retired after 30 years in office management for Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM) a nonprofit member organization.

 Mary Ann is predeceased by her husband Edward Sabbagh, their parents Ella Lula & John Einig, Helen & Naseeb George Sabbagh, siblings Helen & Alfred Trafzer, Salwa & Stanley Kehoe, James Sabbagh, Ann Voorhees, Ronald Kosten, Gordon Cook.

She is survived by siblings Carl & Barbara Einig, Catherine & Fred Leonard, Judith & Jerry Anderson, Anna Jane Sabbagh, children George Sabbagh, Catherine & John McCoy, Cynthia Sabbagh, Renée & Erik van Opijnen, grandchildren Ian, Jesse, Elias, Kristian & Kelani van Opijnen, Louis & Heather McCoy, Cheyenne & Nicolas van Landeghem, great granddaughters Rose, Rebekah, Rylee & Reese van Landeghem, nieces, nephews, cousins who adored her, and Muffin.

 When asked three things she enjoyed 1) church 2) grandchildren 3) cooking; especially Lebanese food for her husband. Her faith in God and love for Jesus gave her freedom to worship in Saint Joseph’s Parish, Stratford Street Baptist Church, Community Bible Chapel, healing services, prayer groups and Al-Anon meetings throughout the area. Her common line was “I will pray”, her psalm “Be still and know that I am God”, her hymn “I come to the Garden alone.” She embraced her husband’s ethnicity and was the only non Arab member to serve on the board of the Lebanese Syrian Ladies Aid Society. She was called Sittoo, not only by her grandkids, but their friends or any child she would meet. She called them her Joys.

“And I think to myself what a wonderful world.”

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held in St. Joseph Church, 1360 Highland Ave, Needham, on Friday, June 3rd at 11am. Visiting will be held in the Eaton Funeral Home, 1351 Highland Ave, Needham on Friday morning from 10 –10:45 prior to Mass. Interment will follow Mass at the Gardens Cemetery in West Roxbury.

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