David Mounir Sa’adah

Sa’adah—David Mounir Sa’adah, 86, on October 29, 2025, in Gwynedd, Pa. David was born on November 6, 1938, to Marjorie (Abrahamian) and Mounir Sa’adah in Beirut, Lebanon. David and his parents emigrated to the United States following World War II, settling in Woodstock, Vt. The family returned to the Middle East briefly in 1949, when David’s parents worked for American Friends Service Committee to organize and lead one of the Palestinian refugee camps in Gaza.

David earned a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University. After completing his medical degree at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, he began an internal medicine internship until he was drafted by the U.S. Army. There he focused on issues of women’s health for service members and their families. He also helped to develop mobile hospitals for military and civilian disaster relief. Always studying, he discovered significant under-reporting of U.S. military friendly fire deaths and insisted on more accurate criteria for the way those deaths are counted.

In addition to several locations in the United States, David served with the army in Vietnam, France, and Italy. While in Italy, he was an advisor to the women preparing the Italian edition of Our Bodies, Ourselves.

By the mid-1980s, David had a new assignment; a new home in Alexandria, Va.; and most important, a new wife, Gretchen Tenny Hall. Decades had passed since their teenage romance; when they married, they had five adult children: Raf, Sarah, and Marjorie Sa’adah, and Sarah and Rachel Tucker. Over time they welcomed eight grandchildren.

David was actively engaged in Alexandria (Va.) Meeting for years before he became a member. Endlessly curious, he researched the history of the meeting, poring through archives in search of images and records that would bring that history to life. While engaged in this research, he found a printed card of the sort that once had been used by people wanting to join a meeting. “Dear Friends,” it read, “Feeling myself in unity with the Principles and Testimonies of Friends, I hereby request membership in your religious organization.” The simplicity and directness of this request appealed to him. On November 19, 2011, he signed the card and sent it to the clerk of the meeting. He was welcomed warmly into the community he already loved.

David served on the meeting’s Property Committee, supporting plans to preserve the building and grounds, raking leaves, and caring for the birds who considered the place their home. Before he and Gretchen moved to Foulkeways at Gwynedd senior living community in 2012, he made sure someone knew where the towhees came to nest each spring in an azalea thicket. This Friend agreed the thicket must be preserved and became the Towhee Mentor in David’s place.

Once at Foulkeways, David attended Gwynedd (Pa.) Meeting where he worked to improve the sound system in the worship room and served as a greeter, warmly welcoming all who arrived for worship on Sundays.

David’s life was characterized by service to others: in his profession as a physician, in his involvements at Alexandria and Gwynedd Meetings, and in his friendships. At Foulkeways, he helped establish the End of Life Concerns Committee, and led the Residents Helping Residents project. He actively hammered and sawed at Habitat for Humanity projects in Romania and Madagascar. The latter activity led to his historical study of Quaker missions in Madagascar.

David is survived by his wife, Gretchen Tenny Hall; his former wife, Gay Gellhorn; five children, Rafael Sa’adah, Sarah Sa’adah, Marjorie Sa’adah, Rachel Tucker, and Sarah Tucker; two siblings, Jonathan Sa’adah and Anne Sa’adah; plus a large extended family.