Bethlehem University Foundation mourns the passing of long-time supporter and friend Lady Lily Salma Hazbun.
Lily Salma Hazbun, 85, of Aliso Viejo, CA, passed away June 4, 2020 after an extended battle with cancer.
Lily was born in 1935 in Honduras to Palestinian immigrants, Marguerite Hanania and Elias Mansour. In 1937, her family returned to Palestine, living in Jerusalem until the family relocated to Beirut in 1947.
Lily met her future husband Albert E. Hazbun of Ramleh, Palestine, while he was an engineering student at the American University of Beirut. In 1958, she immigrated with her family to the United States and settled in Southern California. Albert soon followed and they were married in Los Angeles in 1959. While living in the Bay Area, Albert and Lily gave birth to their three children Randa (1962), Maya (1965), and Waleed (1968). The family lived around the world including time in Brazil, Paris, Athens, and Saudi Arabia. The family returned to California and settled in El Dorado Hills.
Lily and Albert became devoted members of the Northwestern Lieutenancy of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. As a Knight and Dame of the Order, the Hazbuns increased their support of Christians in the Holy Land. Albert passed away in 2012, and in his memory, along with their friends in the Northwestern Lieutenancy, Lily established the
Sir Albert Hazbun Endowed Scholarship
at the Bethlehem University Foundation. Since its creation, the fund has raised almost $50,000 in scholarship support. Each year the Bethlehem University Foundation makes a grant to Bethlehem University using the investment income from the endowed scholarship. To date, the fund has sent more than $6,000 in scholarship support for 7 students at Bethlehem University.
Lily’s wish was to continue funding the
Sir Albert Hazbun Endowed Scholarship
to provide scholarships to students in need. In honor of Albert and Lily’s dedication to the community at Bethlehem University, the scholarship has been renamed the
Sir Albert E and Lady Lily S. Hazbun Endowed Scholarship
.
Bethlehem University is located in the town where Jesus was born and within walking distance of the Church of the Nativity. Bethlehem University is a place of hope in a part of the world marked by war and injustice. As a Catholic University with both Muslim and Christian students, the University stands as a place of encounter between people of different faiths. Serving a community that has known armed conflict, poverty, and extreme hardship, the University creates tangible hope for a better future built on peace and justice. It is the hope created at Bethlehem University that inspired Albert and Lily in their work of making Bethlehem a better place.
With an annual tuition of approximately $2,500 in a part of the world where poverty and unemployment run rampant, and with the overwhelming majority of students receiving some form of financial aid, the
Sir Albert and Lady Lily Hazbun Endowed Scholarship
provides perpetual financial assistance to a student community in desperate need. Academic programs such as nursing, hospitality, and business, equip the graduates with the tools they need to find meaningful employment upon graduation, allowing them to work towards building a better life and a peaceful future in their homeland.
Gifts in memory of Lady Lily Hazbun to the
Sir Albert and Lady Lily Hazbun Endowed Scholarship
can be sent to the Bethlehem University Foundation at:
Bethlehem University Foundation
PO Box 355
Beltsville, MD, 20704-0355
Or, click the donate button below. You can also donate by visiting the Foundation website: www.bufusa.org/donate
