BLOOMFIELD HILLS — Arab American activist and philanthropist Suheila Ajluni passed away at age 79, on Sunday, Dec. 29.

Aljuni, who was born in the Palestinian town of Ramallah on May 20, 1934, immigrated to the United States in 1957, where she dedicated her time and efforts to community service and raising funds for projects that benefit people here in America and back in her homeland.

Ajluni attended college in Beirut and was a kindergarten teacher in Ramallah before moving to America with her husband Attorney Karim Fred Ajluni. 

“She had a motivation for being involved in a community,” said Karim Ajluni, who served as Honorary Consul to Jordan from 1963 to 1989. “She believed that it didn’t matter how long you lived, but how meaningful your life was and how good you were to others.”

Ajluni.

Ajluni raised funds and helped design the Arabic Cultural Room at Wayne State University (WSU). She was a member of the Anthony Wayne Society, which was established to recognize WSU’s “leading donors.”

Her husband said by contributing to the Arabic Cultural Room, which showcases traditional clothes, artifacts and literature from the Arab World, Ajluni wanted Arabs to be included next to other ethnic American communities represented at the University.

“She wanted to make sure that we belong,” he said. “Up until her health started deteriorating three years ago, she used to go to Wayne State every week to make sure the room is clean and organized.”

Ajluni, who lived in Beverly Hills, helped raise funds for the Arab American National Museum (AANM), the American Federation of Ramallah, Palestine and the Ramallah Club of Metropolitan Detroit.

“The staff and National Advisory Board of the AANM are deeply saddened by the recent passing of Ms. Suheila Ajluni. Suheila was an activist, philanthropist, and friend to many within the Arab American community. She will be missed,” said Devon M. Akmon, the director of AANM.

Karim Ajluni said his late wife cared deeply about the people of Ramallah. 

“She contributed to charities and educational institutes back home. She wanted to help protect Palestinian culture,” he added.

After a visit to the West Bank in 1977, Aljuni helped found Friends of Birzeit University in Michigan. Throughout the years, she held fundraisers for the organization, which provides scholarships for Palestinian students.

A library at Birzeit University in the West Bank is named after her and her husband.

Karim Ajluni says his late wife was the perfect wife and mother. 

“She was strict with her children but loving and caring at the same time,” He explained. “She admired the American culture but preserved her Palestinian heritage.”

Aside from her husband, Ajluni is also survived by two sons, Maher and Dr. Samir; three daughters, Giselle Hatch, Marianne Varley and Suzanne Gastineau; and 12 grandchildren.

Her funeral service took place on Saturday, Jan. 4, at Kirk in the Hills Presbyterian Church in Bloomfield Hills, where she was a deacon.