Marguerite Kalif

Marguerite Owen Kalif, age 90, of Pass Christian, Mississippi, died Monday, December 19, 2005. She was preceded in death by her husband, William Kalif; her daughter, Barbara Adgia Kalif Bryant ; her parents, Mitchell and Adgia El Murr Owen; her brothers and sisters-in-law, Sam and Genevieve Owen, Tofie Sr. and Amelia Owen, and Father George J. Owen. She is survived by three daughters, Mary Ruby Kalif Sellier and husband, Earl of Delisle, Margaret Jean Kalif of Pass Christian, and Josephine Kalif Ballanco of Harahan, LA and one sister, Mary Owen Williams of Gulfport; a son-in-law, A. Hume Bryant of Oxford, the surviving husband of daughter Barbara Adgia Kalif Bryant; nine grandchildren, E. Nick Sellier, III and wife, Wendy of Delisle, Angel Sellier Greaves and husband, Gary of Dacula, GA, W. Kalif Sellier and wife, Ashley of Houston, TX, L. Michelle Bryant Flaherty and husband, Mark of Germantown, MD, William H. Bryant of Pass Christian, Adgia Ballanco Lambert of Metairie, LA, Tanya Ballanco Feutch and husband, Ricky of Carencro, LA, Dr. Gerard Albert Ballanco and wife, Katie of Metairie, LA, and Barbara Kalif Ballanco of New Orleans, LA; thirteen great-grandchildren, Nicholas and Eugenie Sellier, Gary Allen and Joseph Greaves, Patrick, Garrett and Adgia Flaherty, Katlyn Dubuisson, Luc Lambert, Olivia, Joseph, and Jacob Feutch, Lillie Marguerite and Genevieve Ballanco, and two on the way. She is also survived by numerous nieces and nephews. Marguerite Owen Kalif's parents, Mitchell and Adgia El Murr Owen came to America on a cargo/passenger ship from Schwier, Lebanon in 1911. She was born in Gulfport, Mississippi on July 25, 1915. Throughout her childhood she worked in her father's dry good and grocery store and remembered selling five loaves of French bread for 10 cents and center cut sirloin steak for 19 cents per pound. She was a proud graduate of Gulfport High School where she represented five classes and the vocational department when she was initiated into the National Honor Society in her senior year. In 1937 she married her husband, William, and they settled in Pass Christian to raise their four daughters. They bought into the family business and called it Kalif and Owen Food Market. Mrs. Kalif's own business history on the Coast included not only the food market she and her late husband owned, but also her insurance company which operated in the Owen Realty Company Building from 1953 until 1986. She also acquired real estate during this time. She was an active member of Trinity Episcopal Church, a member of St. Monica's Guild, and the president of St. Acadia Council. She was active in school affairs and the PTA when her children were in school. She was a member of the Eastern Star and the Coast Shrine Auxiliary where she was president from 1959-1960. She was a member of Beta Sigma Phi, the Ladies Auxiliary of the Lions' Club and the Pass Christian Garden Club. She was a Skipperette at the Pass Christian Yacht Club, and was Auxiliary Chairman from 1955-1966, where she received the Goodsie Rafferty Award for being an outstanding member in 2003. She helped organize and served on the Foundation Board for the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College which began in 1974, and was the third president. In July she celebrated her 90th birthday at the Palace in the Pass. The Mayor and Board of Alderman declared that day "Marguerite Owen Kalif Day" in Pass Christian. She had over 350 family and friends present and the President and First lady sent a special birthday greeting to her. In October 2005 she was the recipient of the Sam Owen Outstanding Alumni Award. Visitation will be Thursday, December 22, 2005 at Trinity Episcopal Church, on the corner of 2nd Street and Church Avenue, in Pass Christian from noon until 2 p.m. A Communion Service will begin at 2 p.m. with interment at Live Oak Cemetery. In lieu of flowers the family prefers donations be made to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105. 1-800 873-6983. Bradford-O'Keefe Funeral Home, O'Neal Road, Gulfport is in charge of arrangements. View and sign register book at www.bradfordokeefe.com.