Despina Makar

Despina Dimitri Coumis Makar began her journey in March 1936. She was born in Cairo, Egypt to Greek immigrant parents Dimitri Constantine Coumis, a refugee from Asia Minor, and Elizabeth Proies from Chios Greece.

Raised in Egypt, she attended formal Greek school as a child. She continued her education at the American University in Cairo, earning her Bachelors in Economics with honors.

Despina’s journey continued when she met and eventually married Dr. Raouf Makar in 1960.  The next few years were busy for the newlyweds. They were blessed with four children Rosemary, Samy, Ramsey and Hoda.

Despina and her young family’s adventures continued as they moved to Kuwait in 1970.  Four children and a new country brought on many new challenges. But with a big heart and an open mind she fearlessly faced every challenge, always with a smile, a positive attitude, and an unshakeable faith; making many new friends and collecting many new recipes along the way.

Over the years, the children grew up and started heading off to university.  Suddenly, the house became more empty and quiet. Still, Despina always found creative ways to make the best of things. With the children out of the house, Despina and Raouf began thinking about retirement.

On August 2 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait.  Despina and Raouf were stranded in Kuwait and cut off from the world as the war unfolded.  Forty days inside the war zone was hard for both of them. Despina would smuggle food and supplies to the Greek consulate as they were stranded too; negotiating in fluent Greek-accented (Khawagati) Arabic with the Iraqi soldiers at the nearby checkpoint to let her pass with the supplies. Eventually, the Greek government made arrangements for all Greeks to evacuate. Off they went, a small caravan of Greeks through the desert headed towards an airplane in Iraq that would eventually fly them to safety in Greece - where they found almost everything on strike.

After a brief stay in Greece, Despina and Raouf headed to Toronto, Canada where they stayed for a while. Then off to Stanford, California eventually finding their way to Cyprus where they spent six months before returning to Kuwait to help with the rebuilding of the country. Instead of retiring, they stayed almost another ten years there.

In 1999, Despina and Raouf decided to retire. That brought them to the latest leg of their journey.  They came to Fremont California where their two sons were living.  They settled in Fremont and joined St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in San Jose, CA.

Over the last two years, Despina had the misfortune of breaking her leg twice. In July 2021, she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Despite all that, she saw the positive side of the coronavirus. Now she had more time to spend with her children as lockdown kept them all working from home. 

Despina has always been a beacon of positivity and hope for anyone who was fortunate enough to know her. She was warm and welcoming to everyone she met. With her, no one was a stranger for long. She “adopted” many who called her “Mama”, from friends of her children, to her medical team, to her friends at Trader Joe’s.  She will be missed by everyone.

Despina passed away peacefully on Saturday November 27, 2 days after celebrating Thanksgiving surrounded by family and friends. May her memory be eternal.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Despina’s memory to St. Anna’s Philoptochos (friends of the poor) Society of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in San Jose, CA.