Obituary of Najim A. Jabbar

Dr. Najim Din Abdullah Abdul Jabbar

Oct 17 1929 - Oct 19 2018

Najim began his next journey where he always wanted to end up - at home surrounded by his family.

           He arrived in America in 1953 to attend Springfield College in Springfield, MA to pursue his passion for gymnastics. He returned to Iraq, after achieving his BS in Physical Education and his M.Ed. in Physical Education, to teach gymnastics at the University of Baghdad, Iraq. When he returned to the US for his Ph.D. from Peabody College for Teachers (Vanderbilt University) in 1963 he married his only sweetheart and spiritual mate, Constance Brunet. From 1953 to 2018, Najim and Connie had many adventures including raising three children, Leila, Ramsey, and Zachary.

In 1964, Najim and Connie moved their family to East Northport, NY for his teaching position at Larkfield Elementary School. To the thrill of both students and parents, Dr. Jabbar was the first educator to introduce gymnastics and soccer to the curriculum in the Northport School System.

In 1971 Dr. Jabbar became a professor at CUNY - Staten Island, a position he held until his retirement in 1996. In addition to his love of gymnastics, Najim ran cross country, cycled, and swam right along with the students he coached. In each of his teaching positions, Dr. Jabbar’s students praised his patience, sense of humor, and ability to make every student achieve physical feats they thought impossible.

Combining his devotion for teaching with his zeal for athletics, Dr. Jabbar would teach strangers at the beach how to swim, people in the park how to cart wheel, and party-goers how to bellydance. He did handstands everywhere - picnic tables, lifeguard chairs, swing sets, ladders, and with kids wrapped around his back. He was truly a remarkable athlete who inspired others to embrace physicality as source of joy and key to overall happiness.

Najim was an avid paddle ball player, loved to experiment with growing many varieties of hydrangeas, babied his '68 Rally SS Camaro, enjoyed traveling the world, and ended all the family videos with the very first “selfies.”

Celebrating his life are his wife of 57 years Connie, children Leila, Ramsey, and Zachary, grandson Kane, siblings Maratib, Mustafa, Tarik, Fatima, Hameed, and Najiba, many nieces, nephews, and in-laws, and former students all of whom are grateful to him for teaching them “how to fly.”

In lieu of flowers, donations to either of the following would be appreciated:

Visiting Nurse Service & Hospice of Suffolk Foundation, Inc.

Springfield College Men's Gymnastics Program. Please follow the link below and choose "Other" as the designation, then type in "Men's Gymnastics" https://advancing.springfieldcollege.edu/pages/springfield-donation-form