First Syriac Orthodox priest for the U.S.A and family

(Clockwise from left) Abuna Hanna Koorie with Mary Koorie Chermookey, their son Alex, his wife, and Sadie Koorie Huff. In 1907, Fr. Hanna Koorie became the first Syriac Orthodox priest ordained specifically for North America, serving the growing Syriac Aramean immigrant communities of New York and New Jersey. Ordained by Mor Ivanios Elias Halloulei, Archbishop of Jerusalem, Fr. Koorie led the original Syriac Orthodox Church of the Virgin Mary in West Hoboken (today Union City), and later in West New York as the community expanded.