Immigrant daughter, insatiable intellect, and retired Evanston elementary schoolteacher, Florence Sargis Ganja, 94, formerly of Skokie, passed away at her residence at Arden Courts of Glen Ellyn on Wednesday, March 2, 2016. Her parents, Sherin Isaac Sargis and Jonas Sargis, had only recently immigrated to Chicago when they welcomed Florence, their second child but first American baby, on July 21, 1921. Christian Assyrians from Urmia, Persia — an area now in Northwest Iran, the Sargises had escaped the religious persecution and genocide of their era by joining the tens of thousands of Assyrians sponsored by the Presbyterian Church to relocate to Chicago during World War I. (The Presbyterian denomination had a strong presence in Persia prior to the War. Protestant missionaries first began ministry in Persia in the early 19th century, finding the Assyrians to be warmly hospitable allies. The vast majority of Assyrians converted to Christianity during the original Christian movement at the beginning of the first millennium. Some were among Christianity's earliest missionaries taking the Gospel to the people of India and China.)

Although her parents spoke only broken English, young Florence excelled in her studies at LeMoyne Elementary School and earned a full scholarship to the University of Chicago Laboratory High School. Her nascent intellect flourished at this institution where John Dewey launched the progressive "model school" movement at the turn of the 20th century. Each day, Florence rode a bus and two trains to commute from her parents' humble home in Lakeview to the stately, collegiate-gothic campus in Hyde Park. She went on to attend the University of Chicago, also on a full scholarship, where the naturally athletic competitor could be found many an afternoon perfecting field hockey moves on the Midway. Upon graduation from college, she embarked on a teaching career in Evanston District 65.

On June 27, 1948, she married Arthur Ganja, an interior decorator, who had emigrated from the same area of Persia as her parents. The couple enjoyed 56 years of marriage before Arthur passed away in 2004.

Ultimately, Mrs. Ganja's Lab School career came full circle when she joined the teaching staff of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Laboratory School (now the Dr. Martin Luther King Literary and Fine Arts School) in Evanston. She loved sharing her keen insights and zeal for learning with her students and enthusiastically embraced the innovative team-teaching methods developed in the Lab School Movement.

After completing her graduate studies at Northwestern University, she travelled widely both at home and abroad and developed curriculum from her experiences. Some of her favorite destinations included Scotland, Sweden, China, India, Tahiti, the Galapagos, the Shaker country of Kentucky and Southern Indiana, and The Cloister at Sea Island off the coast of Georgia. In later years, she enjoyed sorting through her many boxes of well-preserved travel brochures, journals, photos and mementos. Like her ancestors in ancient Assyria, who valued art, knowledge and information so much that they created the first library, Florence enjoyed collecting.

She relished her Assyrian-American heritage, cherishing her records and old photos of the original Chicago Assyrians who founded Carter Presbyterian Church, the Northside mission church that Fourth Presbyterian sponsored for the Assyrian Community. She supported the Assyrian Universal Alliance Foundation in developing an extensive library of Assyrian history as well as a scholarship program to help local Assyrians with college expenses. She also supported the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago in its efforts to document ancient Middle-Eastern language and culture.

An avid consumer and supporter of the arts and humanities, Mrs. Ganja served on the Women's Board of the Lyric Opera and was an active member of the Art Institute and the University Guild. She loved to read, visit galleries and attend lectures and concerts. In retirement, she enjoyed monthly book groups—in her 80s, she kept up with three at once, while faithfully attending and participating in weekly bible study. In addition to fiction and important works on Christian topics and educational philosophy and practice, her extensive personal library represented her deep interest in and study of feminism, Jungian analysis, both modern and ancient art, and the world's most ancient cultures and religions. She especially enjoyed the programs of the C.J. Jung Institute in Evanston, the Tau Center of the Franciscan Sisters in Wheaton, and the Evanston and Chicago Symphonies. She also spoke glowingly of the excellent service she received at the Skokie Public Library.

Mrs. Ganja, a long-time member of Winnetka Presbyterian Church, loved to entertain, hosting many elegant parties. She especially enjoyed the luncheons she shared with the King's Daughters Sunday School Class, who began meeting together as young women at Buena Presbyterian Church, formerly at 4301 N. Sheridan, and continued the tradition throughout their lives. In retirement, she met regularly with her many schoolteacher friends. Although Mrs. Ganja was not blessed with children of her own, she poured the essence of her life into her many friends, students, nieces and nephews, and their children, supporting and encouraging curiosity and education at every turn.

Nature also spoke to Mrs. Ganja's heart and soul. She enjoyed relaxing in the parks along Lake Michigan and regularly visited Ravinia and the Chicago Botanic Garden. She supported many environmental preservation organizations, including the Nature Conservancy, the Sierra Club and the National Parks.

Mrs. Ganja is survived by her brother Robert J. (Alma) Sargis; nieces and nephews—Dorothy Warda Yohanan of Yonkers, N.Y., Dianne Warda (Don) Apel of Downers Grove, Scott R. Sargis of Chicago, and Mark R. (Elizabeth) Sargis of Wheaton—and her many great-nieces and -nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents; her beloved husband ; her brother, Albert; her sister, Frances Warda; and her niece, Kathleen Warda Grover.

A private interment will be held at Elmwood Cemetery in River Grove, followed by a public memorial service at Winnetka Presbyterian at 11 a.m., Saturday, March 12, 2016. Memorial gifts may be directed to Winnetka Presbyterian Church (1255 Willow Rd., Winnetka, IL 60093) or to the Wheaton Montessori School (1970 N. Gary Ave., Wheaton, IL 60187), to which she contributed later in life to ensure that well-crafted educational models created by studious intellectuals would continue to thrive into the future, but especially because "Eli [a much-loved great-nephew who visited her almost weekly] should attend a fine school." A silver elephant from her art collection has become a favorite polishing project of the preschoolers in Elizabeth Berdick's primary classroom.