Allegra Wilber

ALLEGRA WILBER, 91, of Charleston, IL passed away at 5:30 A.M. on Sunday, September 04, 2011 at the Odd Fellow-Rebekah Home in Mattoon, IL.

A memorial service celebrating Mrs. Wilber’s life will be held at 3:00 P.M. on Sunday, September 11, 2011 at the North Side Baptist Church, 414 North 5th Street in Charleston, IL. Loretta and her son will receive friends after the services. In lieu of flowers, Memorials may be made to Lincoln Log Cabin State Historic Site or EIU Foreign Language Department. The Edwards Funeral Home is assisting with arrangements.

Allegra was born January, 1, 1920 in Cairo, Egypt. She was a daughter of Salamoun Chaaya and Emilie (Cohen) Mosseri. There were eight children in the family – in chronological order, Charles (the eldest), Mayer, Lonnie, Victor, Allegra, Soumi, Fortunee and Jacques. All the children moved out of Egypt in the 1940’s – Fortunee to London, others down thru Paris, Italy, Israel and even Madagascar. Allegra traveled to London and Tel Aviv to see her relatives several times in the 1960’s

Allegra attended Italian schools and did very well academically. She loved sports and was part of rowing teams on the Nile River. They traveled up to Italy and Alexandria to compete. Her favorite aunt Fortunee taught her to sew which she enjoyed until her death.

During WWII many Americans were stationed in Cairo – Cairo was then a very cosmopolitan city – second only to Paris. Allegra met Dallas Wilber and they were married at the Base Church in 1945. A daughter was born to them in Cairo in 1946, Loretta who now lives in Phoenix, Arizona. Allegra came to the U.S. in 1946, baby in toe, to the small town of Charleston, IL where Dallas was working as a barber. A second daughter was born in 1948, Emily, who now resides in Atlanta, Georgia.

In Danville, Illinois on March 8, 1950, Allegra was awarded her Certificate of U.S. Citizenship. She was very very proud to become a Citizen of the USA.

In 1954, Allegra enrolled at EIU. She made the Deans List and graduated with honors. She also obtained her MS degree in Foreign Languages from EIU. She loved the foreign students at Eastern and went to all their functions and to those at the U of I, too. Allegra speaks seven languages herself. Allegra was able to bring her Mother, Emilie, to Charleston to live in 1956. Emilie spoke only Hebrew except to Dallas – she would speak English to him.

Mattoon, Westfield, Neoga, Paris, Illinois were schools where Allegra taught high school foreign languages, French, Spanish, Latin in the late 1950s and early 1960s. She was always curious and ready to learn new things as well as sharing/teaching others what she knew. She had a heart to reach out to people. She loved to read and tell stories of growing up in Egypt.

The Wilber family were members of the First Christian Church of Charleston and founding members of the Central Christian Church. Mrs. Wilber was a member of the VFW Auxiliary.

Allegra has four grandchildren, six great grand children and two great great grandchildren.