Soreya 'Suri' M. Suleiman

July 1, 1933 - September 25, 2020

Soreya ‘Suri’ Marco Suleiman, age 87, of Kearney, passed away, Friday, September 25, 2020 at Mount Carmel Home Keens Memorial. Graveside services will be 10:00 a.m., Wednesday, September 30th, 2020 at the Kearney Cemetery with Father Christopher Morris officiating. A Trisagion Prayer service will be held 7:00 p.m., Tuesday, September 29, 2020 at Horner Lieske McBride & Kuhl Funeral Home. Memorials are suggested to St. George Orthodox Church. To Plant Memorial Trees in memory, please visit our Sympathy Store. Tributes or messages of condolence can be left at www.hlmkfuneral.com. Horner Lieske McBride & Kuhl Funeral and Cremation Services in Kearney is in charge of arrangements. Suri was born July 1, 1933 in Kirkuk, Iraq to Marco and Marganita (Ishow) Suleiman. She attended Kirkuk Assyrian School. She assisted her sister, Glades, in sewing elaborate baptismal and bridal gowns as well as vestments for priests and altar boys and sewed altar cloths and church curtains. Suri was also well known for her beautiful knitting and crocheting. For more than 20 years, Suri and Glades championed many fundraising events for the Assyrian Fun Fair in Kirkuk to benefit widows, needy families and to provide scholarships to students. She was honored to have served the Patriarch Mar Shimon and Patriarch Mar Dinkha when they visited St. George in Kirkuk. She was also an excellent cook and baker and was often in charge of the Communion bread. She was an amazing gardener, growing many fruit trees from seeds. She also was multilingual and spoke Aramaic (Assyrian), English, Armenian, Turkish and Arabic. Suri will always be remembered by her younger siblings for being their second Mother, who always bathed them and took excellent care of them. She will also be remembered by her family and friends for her constant love, kindnesses and powerful prayers. Suri worked in faithful service to St. George, The Virgin Mary and St. James. She was a devoted member of St. George Orthodox Church and the St. George Ladies Society in Kirkuk and also in Kearney. Survivors include her brother, William M. Suleiman and his wife, Kathy, of Kearney; sisters Beauty Piccirilli and her husband, Daniel; Caroline Brennan; Dally Xenou; Wilhalmina Shmouel and her husband, Raphael; and Olga Steckel; and 17 nephews and nieces. She was preceded in death by her parents; sister, Glades; brother, Bob ‘Baba’; and sister, Jennifer.