Stingl: Want to adopt a Syrian refugee family with 11 kids? These class of ’62 women said yes.

Something amazing happened when a group of high school friends in their 70s decided to adopt a family of 13 from war-torn Syria who fled to Milwaukee to start a new life.

First, they all got to know each other, despite a huge language gap in the beginning. Then, the familiarity turned to love. 

At a time when some in America fan fear of immigrants, this is a story of understanding and appreciation of the ways we're all alike.

"You have to get to know people. People from other countries aren't scary. All they want to do is come and have a good life for their children," said Mary Ward.

She is one of seven retired women from the class of '62 at Holy Angels Academy in Milwaukee who remained friends but decided one day they wanted to do more than just chat over lunch.

So they contacted Catholic Charities Milwaukee and asked for a Syrian family they could help settle in Milwaukee. In September 2016, the women waved American flags at Mitchell International Airport when Turki Hamdoun, his wife, Aisha Hajabsi, and their 11 children arrived. 

That would be Hussein, 16, Bashar, 15, Ammar, 14, Nada, 13, Ibrahim, 12, twins Nizar and Nisrin, 11, Yasmin, 10, Mohannad, 7, Yousif, 5, and Hanin, 3.

They lived as farmers in Idlib in northwestern Syria. But it became clear in 2014 that they needed to flee their country. On the way to the market one day, the family witnessed a helicopter overhead taking random potshots at people. Later a bomb exploded near their home.

The family rode in a bus to neighboring Turkey and lived more than two years in refugee camp tents where Hanin was born. After a six-month process of signing forms, blood tests and other steps, they were cleared for passage to the United States.

You can imagine the culture shock of arriving here.

"First thing, when we go to school, we cannot understand. Second thing, we cannot go outside and we don't have friends. And when we go to the store to buy something, we cannot understand what you have to do. We ask for help," said son Bashar. 

So the former classmates and a few of their husbands jumped in to help in whatever ways were needed. They go along to parent-teacher conferences and drive family members to doctor or dentist appointments, but also to bowling, baseball games and pizza parties. 

Most of the family was present at the large, old home they rent on the near south side when I stopped there Monday to meet them and the Holy Angels friends. Dad Turki was missing because he was on the job as a custodian at Salam School. Oldest son Hussein works at the Milwaukee Public Market and rides his bike there.

The women were helping the children with their homework, but there was plenty of time for hugs, hand-clapping games and other joyful chaos. Nizar showed me how he's learning to juggle clementine oranges. The donated furniture in the home is worn, and the living room is decorated with framed passages from the Qur'an.

Mother Aisha has learned enough English to get by, and her children, who all attend MPS schools, are quite fluent after only two years here. The family also speaks their native Arabic, some Turkish and is picking up Spanish from school and the neighborhood.

They're also bringing home excellent report cards. Nada will be attending St. Joan Antida High School, and she told me she hopes to become a doctor someday.

The mashup of these Catholic-educated sponsors and the Arab Muslim Hamdoun family has been a delight for everyone.

"We love them," Aisha said. "We love them a lot, a lot, a lot. Our kids love them. Very good friends."

"The kids love when we come over. I call them my second grandchildren," said Marian Yoder. "It's been the most rewarding thing I've ever done. That's how my husband got involved. I'd come home and he'd say, 'Wow, you're on cloud 9.' "

Besides Marian and Mary, the other women in the group are Carol Johnstone, Connie Wittig, Maddy Klug, Pattie Riordan and Anne Catalane. Many of their other classmates donated money to help the Hamdoun family.

Mary's husband, Jim Walrath, taught Aisha, 34, and Turki, 40, to drive, something neither did in Syria. They started in an empty parking lot.

"Turki was very cautious, and Aisha liked to drive fast," Jim laughed. Both now have their driver's licenses, and they use cars donated to them.

The family also has received lots of support from their schools and the local Muslim community, which also has welcomed the Holy Angels crew.

"We have learned so much from them and enjoyed their company, something a bunch of Catholic school girls probably wouldn't have had a chance to do," Pattie Riordan said.

Aisha, an excellent cook, has learned where to shop in Milwaukee for ingredients of the family's favorite Syrian dishes. Local food pantries also have helped out.

As the family adjusts to American society, the women's help is needed less and less. But the friendship goes on.

"We come over to hang out," Mary said.

"There's so much love and happiness in that family," Marian said, "that no one wants to lose touch with them."

Contact Jim Stingl at (414) 224-2017 or jstingl@jrn.com. Connect with my public page at Facebook.com/Journalist.Jim.Stingl