Issam Ahmad-Izzat Taha passed away on September 8, 2023. He was born July 18, 1933, in Haifa, Palestine, the eldest son of Ahmed Izzat Taha and Badrieh Taha. He had eight younger siblings. Issam and his family became refugees in 1948. In 1957, he graduated from Syrian University and came to the United States to earn his master’s degree in chemistry from Purdue University. He later earned his PhD in chemistry from the University of Missouri. Issam helped secure permanent residency in the United States for his parents and six of his siblings. He was an adjunct professor at several New Jersey universities prior to becoming a teacher and Science Department Chairperson at Princeton High School in Princeton, NJ in the early 1970s. He retired in 1998 and moved to Monroe Township, New Jersey, to be closer to his siblings and extended family.
Issam enjoyed frequent visits with his large, tight-knit family and working on his computer. He briefly pursued glassblowing in graduate school and a motorcycle hobby when he turned 50. He traveled extensively in the United States and abroad, mostly in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.
He is survived by his wife, Carol Taha, son Ahmed Taha, daughter Dina Vogt, daughter-in-law Meena Taha, son-in-law James Vogt, and four grandchildren: Jibriel and Amar Taha and David and Zachary Vogt. He is predeceased by his brother Hilal Taha. He is also survived by his three brothers (Adnan Taha, Nabil Taha and Riad Taha), four sisters (Amar Asad, Feryal Asad, Amal Ramadan and Ghada Saymeh), 33 nieces and nephews, and 63 grand-nieces and grand-nephews.
