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21-01-2022 14:30=====29-03-2024 11:33
21-01-2022 14:30=====29-03-2024 11:33

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Posted by Divinity Funerals 17/01/2022

Divinity Funerals

Dear Friends and Relatives,
In lieu of flowers the Khoury family would appreciate any donation made in Nida's honour to the Fred Hollows Foundation.

Donate Here


Any messages or tributes made on this page in his memory are also appreciated.
Thank you

Posted by Divinity Funerals 17/01/2022

Yesterday I broke the news to Carol, my wife. Though she never knew Nida, she got to know him through me and the stories of his that I have been telling her. She was in total shock and disbelief. Then she reminded me that few days earlier I was talking about Nida. We were passing in front of his house in Melisia which I pointed to her. "This is where Nida and Cristina used to live. We had so many beautiful memories in that house."

The two years I had known Nida between 1994 and 1996 n Athens, Greece, not only as my boss at work, but also as my mentor and special friend, were years that shaped a lot of what I am today. 

At the professional level, Nida was shrewd and knew well his HR stuff. He, more importantly, knew how to manage the people working for him. He delegated work and held his team responsible and accountable. He coached us in a manner that would create curiosity within us; this made us seek further knowledge and understanding which we would apply to our work. He was a leader, providing direction and targets, and giving us the freedom to act and think, and to err at times. His was a mind ahead of his time, keeping away from convention and always thriving to improve.

As a person, Nida had a big, loving, and caring heart. Because he was constantly aware of not getting disappointed, he was selective when it came to friends. He made a few but genuine ones, and like that he could share a bigger part of himself with each one of them. His smile never left his face, even when he was angry. He was blunt and he would call a spade a spade.

Bold in his manners, Nida would confidently come to the office with a bowtie and jeans. On Valentine day, he would show up early in the office and, standing at the entrance of the building, he would hand a red rose to every female employee starting her day.

Nida loved to eat. More often than not, after work, he would invite us, a bunch of close friends to dinner for a home-cooked meal which either he or Cristina would prepare for. Otherwise, we would all drive to Glyfada to Beirut Restaurant and have his favourite: hot potatoes (batata harra), chicken wings with cilantro, and liver cooked in pomegranate molasses... of course, these, and many other appetisers would be accompanied with Arak, which Nida sipped wholeheartedly. Half-way through the meal and later at the end of it, Nida would strike his match and light one of his Camels. He would inhale the smoke so deep I could imagine it was putting him into a trance. "Never light a cigarette with a lighter," he once told me. "When you take the first drag, the tastiest drag of all, you need to savour the taste of sulphur in the match. This is why I always use a match to light my cigarettes." I would never forget these words or the way he felt the satisfaction from smoking after a meal.  

I remember when you first moved to Australia in 1996, he wrote me a letter telling me that you had moved into a house not far from the airport. He would stand at the "window and see the  planes gracefully taking off into the skies." As we bid Nida farewell, we are assured that his memory lives on and that, like the airplanes, he will gracefully leave earth.

We have an Arabic saying which goes like "He who bore children never dies." And Nida, though he may not be physically around, he is still with us through his children.

Love you Nida, love you all.

Posted by Andre Dabdoub 22/01/2022

Janet Lee (a.k.a Lucy)

I met Nida when I joined Hay Group in 2008. He was not a man of many words but when he spoke, he certainly had impact. It wasn't until we went to PNG for a project together that I got to know Nida on a more personal level and I am truly thankful for this opportunity as I found a wonderful friend and mentor who has guided me through many decisions over the years. 

 

Nida was an amazing man, father, husband, partner, friend and colleague. He has left his footprints on so many lives around him, leaving this world a better place and with the legacy of his three wonderful children - for whom he always spoke about so proudly whenever we caught up.

Vale Nida, I miss you and hope you are now resting peacefully.

Posted by Janet Lee (a.k.a Lucy) 22/01/2022

I've known Nida since we were 9 or 10 years old in Dhour Shweir, his Mom's hometown in Lebanon. That’s where his family resided in the summer months. Nida was the best friend for all our friends, but for me I only had the one best friend, Nida! We shared the best of times together and the worst, we played, we hiked, we biked, we loved and we hated together, went to college together and we got in trouble together. Nida was my closest friend and the most understanding, he really “got” me and knew how I think, how I feel and why I react the way I do. We spent all the childhood and teen years together, as well as the college years. Then life sent us on different paths. He started his work life in Lebanon, but early on moved to the UAE, then went off to work in Greece, then Canada and ended up in Australia. While I ended in Los Angeles then back to Lebanon and now in Chicago. All the years went by and put a huge distance between us but our friendship was not affected. We both felt like we never separated. Every time we met, we continued from the same place where the last meeting ended. Nida, was always in my mind. I always thought of him whenever I did anything in my life. I always thought what would Nida do in this situation or what would he do if he were here. For me Nida was always with me on all the roads I took. The geographical location had no influence. I am now in Chicago and I last spoke to him on the 6th of January 2022 when he was asking me about the weather in Chicago. I texted him on the 8th, but he did not reply. I texted and called almost everyday after that but he was busy and did not reply. Then on the 19th, Randa told me that can’t talk to me anymore. How little did she know. We still talk everyday and we will continue. See you buddy!

Posted by Najib Korban 22/01/2022

I met Nida when I joined Hay Group just over 20 years ago. Time and attention were precious for Nida, so he chose carefully – clients, work, friends. When he embraced you, he embraced you wholeheartedly.

Nida was a wonderful combination of intensity and focus (when he had a job to get done), humanity and compassion (for his inner circle and wider society), humour and wit (that he dotted through conversations), and always well-intentioned candour (on matters big and small).

 

I feel so fortunate to call Nida a mentor and a friend – someone I knew was special from the first time we met and worked together at HayGroup back in 2001, to the last conversation we had only in November 2021. I will miss you, Nida.  Anita January 2022

Posted by Anita Fleming 21/01/2022

Nida was my colleague and friend for more than 30 years. I always regarded him as one of the most bullet-proof people I knew, but how wrong that has proven at age 62. I’m shocked and saddened to lose my friend, but I know how much there is to celebrate in his life.

His origins were very different to mine, so it was our commonalities that made us great friends. His early life must have been turbulent through the 1960s and 70s. He made his way from childhood through Lebanon, through times and areas of conflict, survived dangerous professional diving work, found time and resources for tertiary education and emigrated to do corporate work in a range of other countries. 
 
We were both aged in our 30s when we met at work, both settling down to new lives in Australia, both making commitments and starting to raise our own families.
Nida was an educated man who did complex work for clients, with many of whom he forged authentic relationships lasting decades. He became a trusted advisor and confidant of many. Nida was respected by clients and colleagues alike
But his heart - and it was a big heart- was always in his family relationships. He was immensely proud of his three children, as he should be, speaking of them often, with passion and with pride.
 
His generation – perhaps even my generation – could be viewed by some as ‘hard-edged’: not giving much focus on emotions, wants and the 'touchy-feely' stuff when there was a need for focus on today’s deliverable. Nida was bred resilient in tough environments and gave small import to whingers, time-wasters and much of the hubris of work life. He gave special import to those who were open to speaking plainly, who committed to put in the hard yards, then relaxed once the job was finished and done well. He loved a joke and a Margarita. To me he was my stoic mentor, forged in steel and 120% reliable as friend or colleague once he voiced a commitment to ‘get it done'. Those close to him knew that under that steel exterior was a huge heart, a very different and giving heart. 
 
I last saw him physically last April for lunch and he was a happy man; in a chatty Christmas email he was looking forward [uncharacteristically] to ‘slowing down a bit’.  Now I shail miss him greatly: his humour, his twinkly eyes, his tireless passion for the goal; and as a great spirit. Vale Nida Khoury. Rest now; the job is done well.  Mike C.  January 2022

Posted by Mike Carroll 21/01/2022