webmaster
© Copyright DEHAI-Eritrea OnLine, 1993-2011
All rights reserved
From: B-Haile (eritrea.lave@comhem.se)
Date: Fri Feb 18 2011 - 19:03:30 EST
philly.com: Philadelphia local news, sports, jobs, cars, homes
Posted on Fri, Feb. 18, 2011
Solomon Habtemicael; ran airport shuttles
By Walter F. Naedele
Inquirer Staff Writer
Solomon Habtemicael, 65, an African immigrant who made good as the co-owner with his wife of a fleet of airport shuttle vans, died of heart disease Saturday, Feb. 12, at his home in Overbrook.
Mr. Habtemicael arrived in the United States in 1971 and opened Lady Liberty Transportation in 1989.
A 2009 Inquirer story reported that it operated "a fleet of 10-passenger vans from . . . hotels and residences to the Philadelphia airport." The fleet now numbers 14.
Born in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, Mr. Habtemicael graduated from high school in Mekele. Before emigrating, he was a high school principal in Tigre province.
Mr. Habtemicael was Eritrean, said his daughter, Ruba. Eritrea, a onetime Italian colony, became independent of Ethiopia in 1993 after a long civil war.
In notes for his obituary, a friend, Araya Debessay, wrote: "Solomon was involved in Eritrean politics since the time he came to the U.S.
"Not only was he one of the founders of the Philadelphia chapter of the Eritrean Students Association in North America," in 1972, "but he was the most dedicated and active member, who sacrificed so much of his time and resources in support of the Eritrean people's struggle for national independence."
His daughter recalled that "he would go back from time to time during the war" of independence from Ethiopia.
At one point, she said, he was among a group of expatriates who "built and operated a battery firm" there that produced equipment for Eritrean insurgents.
Mr. Habtemicael also helped develop a firm there that produced oxygen tanks for hospitals treating wounded fighters, his daughter said.
When he came to Philadelphia, his daughter said, Mr. Habtemicael worked at a Kensington firm that produced woven material.
While working there, she said, he earned a bachelor's degree in education at Temple University in 1976.
Mr. Habtemicael earned a certificate in car mechanics at Lincoln Technical Institute in 1977 and worked as a mechanic at a Volvo dealership in Philadelphia from 1978 to 1988.
The shuttle service was incorporated in 1987. After two years of applying for state certification, it rolled out in June 1989 with two minivans, one of which Mr. Habtemicael drove.
"The office was in his dining room" at first, his daughter said, "and then in his basement."
The company now has its own West Philadelphia office.
Besides his daughter, Mr. Habtemicael is survived by wife Georgina, son Sennay, two brothers, five sisters, and three grandchildren.
A viewing was set from 9 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 19, at St. Francis de Sales Church, 4625 Springfield Ave., where a Funeral Mass will be said at 10. Burial will be in West Laurel Hill Cemetery, Bala Cynwyd.
Contact staff writer Walter F. Naedele at 215-854-5607 or wnaedele@phillynews.com
http://www.philly.com/philly/obituaries/20110218_Solomon_Habtemicael__ran_airport_shuttles.html?c=r
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 9.0.872 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/3451 - Release Date: 02/18/11 08:34:00
----[This List to be used for Eritrea Related News Only]----