Issa Benyamin Obituary (1924 - 2014)

Issa Benyamin, 89, of Normal, died at 8:08 am, Monday, January 13, 2014 at his home.His funeral will be at 11:00 am, Saturday, (1-18-14) at Epiphany Catholic Church, Normal with Rev. Daniel Gifford officiating. Burial will be in Holy Cross Cemetery, Normal. Visitation will be from 4:00-7:00 pm, Friday (1-17-14) at Carmody-Flynn Williamsburg Funeral Home, Bloomington.In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the American Assyrian Aid Society 350 Berkeley Park Blvd, Kensington, CA 94707; or Heritage Health 509 N. Adelaide St, Normal, IL 61761.Issa Benyamin was born in 1924 to Assyrian parents, Mirza Benyamin Kaldani and Esther in Tabriz , Iran. He married Clara Manasserians on August 31, 1957 in Tehran, Iran. She survives.He is also survived by a son, Dr. Ramsin (Jizet) Benyamin of Bloomington; a daughter, Ramica (Dr. Benjamin) Benyamin-Taimoorazy, Bloomington; four granddaughters, Tiffany Nicole Taimoorazy and Melody Chloe Benyamin; and a brother, Mooshi Benyamin, Schaumburg.He was preceded in death by his parents, two sisters, Rachel Daresh and Mary Kandani; and two brothers, Ninos and Joseph Benyamin.During his college days Mr. Benyamin became interested in educating and serving the community. He was elected as a council member several times but his main contributions were focused on education and literature. In his younger days, he published the first Assyrian calendar in 1948 by using stone press. In the following years he published the first bilingual weekly "Bright Future". He also served as the editor of Assyrian weekly "Ishtar". In addition to publishing several books, his main contribution to Assyrian language and literature was first establishing the principles of writing and then pioneering the Assyrian calligraphy. During the last forty years he has created more than six hundred paintings some of which has been published and exhibited internationally.He retired from EPA as director of human resources, in 1988. He came to USA in 1990 to join his children and in 1995 became a proud US citizen. In recognition of his long standing service to the Assyrian art and literature, Issa Benyamin has been a recipient of several awards which are listed as follows: Excellence award by "Assyrian Academic Society of Chicago" in 1991, Excellence award by "Ashurbanipal library in Chicago" in 1991, Hammurabi award by "The Assyrian Heritage Organization of Chicago" in 1992 and the Ashurbanipal award by "Assyrian American National Federation" at the 61st Assyrian National Convention in San Joseph, California, 1994.