Services for Briarcrest resident Afifi Durr Tuesday, September 5, 2023

Afifi Durr 1935-2023

Afifi Durr, beloved storyteller, peace activist, neighborhood leader and true force of nature, passed away peacefully at the age of 87 at her home at Crista Assisted Living Center on Friday, August 25. 2023. 

Her memorial service, graveside service, and potluck reception will be held Tuesday, September 5, 2023.

She leaves behind three sons, George, William and Charlie, a sister and two brothers, along with many friends, students, and storytelling fans. She will be missed by the many who loved her.

Originally from Lebanon, Afifi was a passionate advocate for peace in the Middle East, which led her, along with her friend and mentor Kay Bullitt, to establish the Middle East Peace Camp for youth as well as the Arabic Festival in 2002. 

Afifi remained active with both festivals until she moved into assisted living this past February.

Afifi was also passionate about storytelling and was a board member and Golden Circle inductee of the Seattle Storytellers Guild. Her very first public storytelling took place at Seattle's Folklife Festival! 

She loved sharing stories about her own larger-than-life experiences at American embassies around the world where she worked as a translator in addition to being married to a diplomatic corps officer.

Afifi Durr, Seattle Storytellers Guild Golden Circle Award 2021

After settling down in Shoreline in 1980 with her three boys, Afifi started her own business providing translation and interpretation services to attorneys, courthouses, hospitals and businesses including Boeing, Microsoft, Starbucks, and the Seattle school district. 

She also became a leader in the Briarcrest Neighborhood Association with whom she sponsored a very popular every-other-month storytelling gathering for neighbors, a number of community-wide events featuring well-known storytellers and poets, and a day-long storytelling workshop which taught attendees how to tell their own tales.

Afifi lived in the Briarcrest neighborhood of Shoreline for over 40 years. In addition to being a single parent, Afifi cared for her aging mother, whom she had brought from Lebanon to the United States. 

Afifi enjoyed cooking and gardening, chatting over mint tea and cookies with friends, watching Lebanese television, checking out new Mediterranean restaurants, and giving Arabic lessons to students of all ages. 

She was a devout Christian who was a member of three different church families, including the congregation of the Carmelite Monastery located in her own neighborhood of Briarcrest.

A memorial service will be held at Washelli Funeral Home, 11111 Aurora Avenue in Seattle, on Tuesday, September 5th starting at 10:00am. 

The memorial will be followed at 12:00noon by a graveside service at Holyrood Cemetery, 205 NE 205th Street in Shoreline, and a potluck reception gathering at North Seattle Church of the Nazarene, 13130 5th Avenue NE in Seattle, at 1:00pm. 

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared here for the Durr family. Her formal obituary, written by her son George, can be seen here.

Donations in Afifi's honor may be made to the Middle East Peace Camp for Children (MEPC), c/o Kadima, PO Box 28455 Seattle, WA 98118

--Jean Hilde