Mary Lee Khouri Memorial Fund

Hi, my name is Sage Squire and I am a long-time friend of the Khouri family. I’m writing today on behalf of Marguerite Khouri and her siblings to request support from the community after the passing of their mother, Mary Lee Khouri on July 6, 2023.

Mary Lee was known for her long career in the cruise-line industry. She was admired for her attention to detail and area expertise. She also loved entertaining and was “the hostess with the mostest”, throwing elaborate parties, including overseas where she helped create a strong community of expats wherever she went. Her efforts even garnered her a visit with Queen Noor of Jordan, something of which she was very proud.

Mary Lee’s health history was long and complicated. It includes typhoid and meningitis as a child, stage IV breast cancer in 2007, 3 brain tumors at various intervals, TIAs (mini strokes), seizures, a coma, all resulting in severe brain damage which presented itself like dementia. Her brain damage and short-term memory loss made maintaining her relationships with friends and family extremely difficult and has impacted her immediate family greatly.

If you are a friend of the Khouri’s, you may also know that their father, Hani Khouri unexpectedly passed away on January 30, 2020 from cardiac arrest following an ischemic stroke. Immediately following his death, the world went into lockdown due to COVID-19 and made this unthinkable moment even more complicated.

Omar, Nicholas, Jad and Marguerite all had to sacrifice so much to help out their parents. While Hani was in the hospital, Marguerite had to quit her full time job to become an advocate for him. After his death, Marguerite suffered from a very deep depression and, although she found her independence through it, she then also became the primary caregiver for her mother, Mary Lee.

Mary Lee then had to be enrolled in Medicare/Medicaid and the kids were tasked with finding a new place for her to live, as their home was uninhabitable due to black mold taking over the majority of the building after Hurricane Irma. Mary Lee spent months receiving in-home nursing before being moved into an Assisted Living Facility.

While all of this was occurring, the Khouri’s were unfortunately the victims of a major theft when valuable items, such as antiques, were stolen from their vacant home and sold. These items were being prepared to be transported and sold to support the family. Although the perpetrator was caught, the majority of their belongings were not recovered, and therefore the Khouris never received the financial support they had anticipated.

In April, Mary Lee had her most recent stroke and was hospitalized. Since then her physical and mental health continued to decline. Marguerite had to put her life on hold again, caring for her mother while watching her decline and eventually become unresponsive. Needless to say, it has been a horrible and gut wrenching experience. It has been exhausting, and completing basic daily needs like eating and bathing were often put to the side as the emotional aspect of this has overwhelmed her.

To add to this deeply unfortunate string of events, Mary Lee’s ALF was withholding her mail, which led to a missed payment towards her life insurance. This missed payment has led to her entire life insurance plan (a $50,000 policy) being canceled. The Khouri children were relying on these funds to cover their mother’s funeral expenses, as well as the remaining bills from her care throughout the years. This is a devastating loss for their family, and leaves them with very few options and resources to stay afloat.

Although the Khouri siblings are incredibly humble people and don’t necessarily enjoy asking for this type of help, they are all deeply deserving of this support and I hope that the community can show up for them in this difficult moment. They have been generous and kind humans, not just to me, but to everyone they meet. They have gone through unimaginable losses and grief, and I am hopeful that this will provide some relief and light in their lives during this dark time.

Their upcoming expenses include Mary Lee’s memorial service (average costs in FL are around $7,000), travel and accommodation for the Khouri siblings, payment for the storage unit holding the remaining of the family’s belongings, the rent Marguerite hasn't been able to make due to a pause in work, and other miscellaneous expenses related to the above.

Thank you in advance for your generosity and kindness.