THE RAADS OF BEIT MERY, LEBANON

From March 8 through 23, 2000, Kerry Laufer visited Beit Mery, Lebanon, the birthplace of her maternal grandfather, Nader Peters (Petrus) Raad. In the future, we hope to add as much information as is available on this side of the family. Kerry was fortunate to meet many relatives who had records of the family ties with the Raads of Mannington, West Virginia.

Beit Mery means "House of Mary" (the mother of Jesus). It is near the capitol of Lebanon, Beirut. It was once a thriving resort community along the coast.

Here is Kerry with members of the Aziz Raad family on her visit to Beit Mery, Lebanon.

Kerry, Odette Raad, Aziz Raad, Naji Raad, Joanne Raad.

Aziz is 85 years old. Odette is his wife. Naji is the son of Aziz, and Joanne is his daughter. Aziz is the third cousin of Penny Raad Laufer (Kerry's mom). Penny and Aziz share the same grandfather (Moses Raad).

FAMILY TREE BACKGROUND

Kerry's research indicates the following:
There are four main branches of the Raad family. The Laufer children descend from the branch which starts with an individual named Massoud who had three sons: Richa, Abed and Aad. We descend from Aad. Following all of the grandfathers down the generations in order, we have:

MASSOUD

AAD

YOUSSEF

MOUSSA (Moses)

BOUTROS MOUSSA (Peter Moses)

NADER

(Father of Penny, Grandfather of Kurt, Kerry, Kevin & Kris)

Kerry indicates that during her visit to Beit Mery, she met descendents of another son of Moses Raad: Najim (listed on other material the family has as "James"). Najim, who remained in Lebanon, had several sons (and some daughters), including Joe and Lee Raad, Tannious, Foad, and Salim. This line of people would have been Nader Raad's first cousins.

The son of Najim called Salim is the father of a man Kerry met in Beit Mery: Aziz Raad (pictured above). Aziz's mother, Adele, was the sister of one of Penny's aunt's from Mannington, W.Va., namely, Lebibi.

Kerry also met some of the children of Aziz: Naji (son - pictured above) and Jano (daughter). They also have two other sons and two other daughters scattered throughout the United States and Paris. The children all have children, also.

Kerry met a few other Raads while in Beit Mery: Joseph Raad, the mayor of Beit Mery, nephew of Lebibi. Joseph had a picture of Penny's brother, Nader, taken in front of his barber shop in Mannington, W.Va. in 1974. He was the first Raad Kerry encountered in Beit Mery. There was also Elias Raad, a 94 year old man, and the only person with a memory of when Nader Raad (Penny's dad) and his dad left Beit Mery. He is from Virginia Raad's line in the family tree. Also, Ziad Raad, Elias Raad's 31 year-old grandson.

One of the other Raads ran a religious products store. Another worked at the pool of the country club in Beit Mery. The Raads of Beit Mery are all very Christian -- Maronites. Kerry went to the church (St. Sessine) where all the Raad's attend. Part of the Mass is said in Syriac. Their favorite religious characters are St. Maron, Mary (shrines everywhere) and St. Charbel.

Updated 9/17/2000

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