Doris Carlquist Halaby, passed away on the morning of the 25th of December surrounded by her children. We celebrate her extraordinary life and also that she is finally at peace.
Doris Carlquist was born in 1918 to Frank E Carlquist, the mayor of Leavenworth Washington and May E. Ackroyd. In 1921 the family moved to Anchorage, Alaska because of opportunities provided by the gold rush. Doris could see Mt Whitney across Cooks Inlet from her porch and she loved sledding down the hills nearby. She described it as a place with 1,000 people and 10,000 cows.
Later the family moved to Spokane, WA, where she attended the Lewis and Clark High School, became the city tennis champion and majored in political science at the University of Washington.
In 1945 she married Najeeb Halaby, an Arab American navy test pilot who had just made the first transcontinental jet flight in US history who would become President Kennedy's FAA Administrator and Chair of PanAm Airlines. The couple lived, worked and raised their family in Washington DC, New York City, Los Angeles and lived briefly in Beirut, Lebanon where she was inspired to support Palestinian refugee initiatives throughout the remainder of her life. After the marriage ended in 1977, she never remarried and remained fiercely independent throughout her life serving on the boards of several companies and non profits including ANERA (American Near East Refugee Aid), AMIDEAST, the Foreign Policy Association and as Chair of New York's Cosmopolitan Club and the social services pioneering Stanley M. Issac's Neighborhood Center among others.
As she aged life seemed to become ever more compelling and delightful. Every flower was the most beautiful. Every little thing was wonderful, and she was the luckiest person in the world.
She loved and will be missed by her 3 children, Queen Noor Al Hussein of Jordan, Christian and Alexa Halaby, 10 grandchildren, and 8 great-grandchildren.
