Dr. Nadeem “Ned” Fawzi Audeh passed away suddenly on October 17, 2022, while visiting family and friends in Jordan. He went for a walk with family. Afterwards, they stopped for a snack, he reclined, and passed peacefully. He was 90 years old.
Ned was born in Qalqilya, Palestine on February 11, 1932. He came from a big family with nine brothers and sisters. In his early 20s, Ned came to the United States for college. After graduating from South Dakota State University with his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, he went to Iowa State University for his PhD. While there, he met his wife, Beverly Joan Birchmier and they married in 1962 in London, England. They settled in Huntsville, AL in 1964 and Ned joined the faculty of the University of Alabama Huntsville in the Department of Engineering, eventually becoming Dean of the Engineering College.
Ned and Beverly had two children, Malik Douglas and Yara Mariam. He retired from UAH but remained active in the university community. Ned lived life to the absolute fullest! Shortly after moving to Alabama, Ned bought a boat and spent every weekend on the Tennessee River water skiing with his friends and family. He loved to bike and often went on long bike rides with friends. He discovered snow skiing in his 60s and shared this with his family. The family spent a few weeks a year skiing which Ned looked forward to each year. One of his favorite things was skiing with his grandchildren.
Throughout his life, Ned was an avid traveler, visiting five of the seven continents and too many countries to count. He made lifelong friends on each of his trips. In his 80s, Ned decided to learn Spanish, which would be his third language. He started casually, but soon began taking college classes, did a 6-week Spanish immersion trip to Seville, Spain, and found ways to practice his Spanish any time he could.
At the time of his death, he was enrolled in a Spanish course at UAH and had worked on his school assignments even while on his trip, wanting to make sure he kept his grades up. Ned was a role model to so many. He educated numerous undergraduate and graduate students. He inspired people he met in his travels and adventures. He was a light that shone so brightly.
He is survived by his wife, Beverly Audeh; his children Malik Audeh (Elizabeth Tsai) and Yara Park (Harry Park) as well as his grandchildren, James Park and Andrew Park.
A celebration and memorial will be held on November 19th from 11AM-3PM at Terranova’s Italian Restaurant in Huntsville and the family invites visitors to drop in any time during that period. In lieu of flowers, the family request memorials be given to the Nadeem F. Audeh and Beverly J. Audeh Scholarship at the UAH College of Engineering (https://uah.givingfuel.com/give).
