Si Faris, The Lebanese Storeowner of Rowlesburg

Si Faris (1913-1990) and his wife Freda

In 1985, a major transition happened in my life that launched me into my high school years.  After living six years in relative obscurity in the town of Kirby, WV, we moved back near my home territory that November with my grandparents to the town of Rowlesburg, WV.   Rowlesburg, in Preston County about 21 miles north of my hometown of Parsons, was a town which I was very familiar with as I had spent a lot of time there in my childhood years.  So, moving there to me at first seemed like a great idea, but unfortunately it was a rough year which awaited me ahead.  However, there were many bright spots during that year - that was the year, for instance, that I was baptized and became part of the Church, and it was also a year in which I got to know some fascinating people.  One of the most fascinating was a portly, bushy-haired Lebanese store owner by the name of Si Faris, and his wife Freda.

Si was a bit of a local fixture in Rowlesburg, as he owned the main store - which also served as a bar and at one point a restaurant - and opinions varied about him.  For some, he was the greatest thing since sliced bread.  For others, he was accused of being a bit of a self-serving crook.  In reality though, Si was a hard-working man with a shrewd business sense, yet he also could be very compassionate to local people.  For one thing, he often extended store credit to people without question, as he fully understood that many local people were on fixed incomes and this was the only way many of them could manage to get the essential items they needed for their homes.  On another occasion too, a local man was having issues with his windshield wipers, and when Si heard about it, he told the man to take the ones off his Lincoln car to use, no questions asked.  This was the essence, I truly believe, of who Si Faris truly was.

A lot of detractors made false accusations against Si I believe for a couple of reasons.  First, mountain people back home were often quick to condemn someone out of jealousy who exhibited a little success, and therefore allegations of crookery wagged from their tongues (some of these talkers though were actually the real crooks - they'd steal you blind!).  Also, the fact Si was the son of Lebanese immigrants sort of brought out a latent bit of prejudice with some of these people, many of whom distrusted "ferners" of any type - I have heard a lot of that same nonsense spewed against the Fillipino doctors who worked in Romney too back in the day, even though those particular doctors were actually compassionate people and gave their cash-strapped patients a lot of leeway.  As much as I love where I am from, and I would not trade my West Virginia roots for anything, I will readily admit that some prejudice existed among local people there and it often led to a lot of unnecessary fiction regarding those who were of other ethnicities.  I have oftentimes confronted some of my fellow townspeople (including some in my own family) about some of that stupidity, reminding some of them that our own genepool was not what you would call 100% WASP either (our family had Jewish forebears).  Any rate, as I personally got to know Si and Freda (as well as their cousin, Bertha Nassif, who owned a shop on the next street), I got to understand and appreciate who they really were, and could accept them fully as persons, quirks and all.  Si, for instance, could be a bit cratchety, but underneath that gruffness was actually a compassionate soul who really reached out to the community in his own way.  He was not crooked, nor was he stingy - on the contrary, he would actually give you the shirt off his back, but just didn't want a fuss made about doing it!  

Si Faris's old store in Rowlesburg, as it appears today

Si, whose actual name was Sood Si Faris, was born in Thomas in February of 1913 to John Niggun (1879-1946) and Shomenia (Salim) Faris (1895-1958).  John had immigrated with his brother Elias sometime around 1895 from Lebanon, and they had settled around Uniontown, PA.  The Farises were one of a number of families of Syro-Maronite Catholic Christians who had fled persecution in the Middle East, and where they had settled they formed a pretty close-knit community.  Another family that came over around the same time was the Johns (or Yokhnans) from the same region - Si's wife Freda, as well as her cousin Bertha, came from that family.  The Maronites were a non-Arab Christian people whose religious heritage went back to an Assyrian monk, St. Maron, who settled along the Orontes River near present-day Antioch in the 3rd century.  As the order he founded grew, more laypeople converted from the Levantine population, and eventually they settled in what was called the Qaddisha Valley in eastern Lebanon.  They have undergone a lot of violent persecution over the centuries, especially at the hands of Islamic militants, and being many of them were given better opportunities to be educated, they also fled the region for the West, with many settling in the US.  For some reason, Uniontown, PA attracted a lot of them, and even today they still have quite a presence there.  I personally was introduced to the Maronites by Si and Freda, and have since then taken a keen interest in them, leading to my own crismation on Easter 2000 as a Maronite-rite Catholic myself.  Freda had a lot to do with that, because she and her cousin Bertha got me going to church again, although ultimately it was my step-great-aunt Betty who really got me involved later on.  I owe Freda, Si, and Bertha a great debt for that too, as they had a key part to play in my own Christian conversion. 

Although Si's family settled in Uniontown, and many of his relatives still lived up there (plus, it was the location of their Maronite parish, St. George, where Si and many of his relatives were baptized, christened, married, and buried), Si himself was born in Thomas, while Freda was born in Rowlesburg.  How that happened I am not sure, but Uniontown is only about an hour away from Rowlesburg, so it kind of makes sense.  Si, as he came of age, got into the retail business, and soon was able to earn a good income for himself.  In time, he also played a role in the civic affairs of Rowlesburg, being a member of the Ruritans and other organizations.  Their cousin, Joe Nassif and his wife Bertha, also settled comfortably in Rowlesburg as well and became an integral part of the community.  And, so it was for many decades.

In the winter of 1986, Mom actually did some housekeeping work for Freda, as she was getting physically unable to keep up and needed extra help.  Si and Freda often employed a lot of the local people to do odd jobs for them to help them earn a little cash, and even I had the privilege of working for Si - my job was shoveling off his sidewalk during the winter in order to keep it from getting slippery and endangering his customers.  Mom actually enjoyed working with Freda, and she also got to know them pretty well - eventually, that is how I got invited to Mass at St. Philomena's, the little Roman Catholic parish in Rowlesburg where Freda and her cousin Bertha attended due to the fact the Maronite parish they were part of was at considerable distance away.  It was not uncommon on Sundays to see a gangly Jewish teenager walking two elderly Lebanese ladies to Mass, and some people thought it was amusing.  That arrangement lasted for a few months until I made the decision to join the Baptist church instead, and was baptized on February 9th, 1986.  Despite joining the Baptist church though, I still kept in touch and close with both Freda and Bertha for a few years afterward.  I often wonder though if maybe I should have become Catholic then instead of joining the Baptists, as in the future I would become Catholic anyway?  Well, I figure God had his reasons for allowing things, and that Baptist church helped me in a lot of ways then too, so it was all good regardless. 

St. Philomena Church in Rowlesburg (now closed), where I used to attend Mass with Freda Faris and Bertha Nassif on Sundays as a teenager.

Si, Freda, nor Bertha actually lived to see me become Catholic, and that is unfortunate they didn't.  I still think a lot about these good people, and do miss them - it was a rare opportunity to get to know them so well, and knowing them also gave me a sensitivity toward the plight of Middle Eastern Christians today, and I still support the causes of a number of Middle Eastern Christian communities as a self-styled activist and advocate.  One day, I am confident I will see them in the hereafter, because oftentimes what we don't see, God does - Si Faris did a lot of good for the people of Rowlesburg, I believe, that only the Lord knows about, and despite some idiotic rumors and tongue-wagging from many back home about him and his family, I believe he was truly a stellar human being in a gruff, cranky exterior.  God bless Si and Freda, and God grant them and Bertha Nassif, as well as many other Maronite members of our communities who have gone to their eternal reward, eternal rest.