Odette Abboud Semaan

January 1st, 1928~May 14th, 2025

Odette Abboud Semaan, 97 years old of El Jdeide Bekaa/Lebanon, died peacefully on Wednesday, May 14th, 2025, at home on her bed in her room, in Grygla, MN with her loving family by her side.

A Funeral Service to celebrate her life will be held from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM on Tuesday, May 20th, 2025, at Saint Clement Catholic Church in Grygla, MN with Father Bryan Kujawa. Burial to follow at Rosebud Cemetery, rural Fourtown, MN.

Odette Abboud Semaan was born on January 1st, 1928(Odette's real age is 90 she was born in 1935 during war all the birth registration books were burned and the registered so many births wrong). Odette was born in a small town called "El Jdeide" in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon (a beautiful country in the Middle East), the daughter of Sleiman Abboud and Bahieh(Aoun) Abboud. She was baptized in the Greek Catholic Faith. Odette grew up and attended El Jdeide Primary School. She was a member of "The Divine Mercy Ladies Group".

On December 19th, 1965, Odette was united in marriage to Elias Mikhael Semaan at The Lady of Annunciation Church at the Patriarchy of the Greek Catholic in Raboueh-Lebanon. The couple made their home in El Chbanieh where they raised their children.

Odette left her birth town in 1955 (she was 20 years old) and she lived in Zalka for 10 years, she worked as a supervisor in a fabric industry in El Jdeide-Beirut.

Odette had Multiple hobbies gardening (she had a green thumb), baking, and making animals shapes with her homemade dough specially the turtle shape and the fish, and the shape of the hair bridle, she used to stand up for more than 4 hours rolling the dough, shaping and baking and sharing with her neighbors who lived in the same building. Her top Hobby was playing cards, so whoever visited her during the day never left without a card game with Odette.

Odette's love and devotion were for her husband and children and among all that her faith and love for the Holy Family, her Rosary never left her neck or hands, praying our father and Hail Mary more than 9 Rosaries daily. Jesus was and will be always the love of her life.

Survivors include children; Tony (Nivine El Jarrouj) Semaan, Georges Semaan, and Antoinette (Joey) Holthusen, Grandchildren; Elie and Joe Semaan; and many other relatives and friends.

She is preceded in death by her husband Elias Mikhael Semaan in 1995; her brother Antoun Abboud, Khalil Abboud, Makhoul Abboud, and her sisters; Bassma Abboud and Salma Aoun.