Old Zarzour Family Film Has Early Chattanooga Scenes

Sunday, March 20, 2011

An old film from the Zarzour family has some interesting early Chattanooga scenes.

Bobby Stone of Atomic Films, a frequent visitor to Zarzour's restaurant on Rossville Avenue, was recently given a copy of the film. He was intrigued by it and asked for the original. Family members were able to track it down and it was sent to Atlanta to be digitalized.

Cindy Fuller Thomas, daughter of Flop and Shirley Zarzour Fuller, said Charles Abraham Zarzour (her great-grandfather) came to the United States from Beirut, Lebanon in the early 1900s. He apparently originally settled in Birmingham because that is where Cindy's Aunt Rose was born on Oct. 24, 1905. His wife, Nazera Abras Zarzour, did not come with him initially to the U.S. He sent money back to Lebanon to bring her and her mother here. They had six children. One did not survive. They located to Chattanooga by the time Cindy's grandfather, Abe Zarzour, was born in 1908.

Cindy's great-grandmother passed away in 1918 during a flu epidemic. She was weakened from child birth following the birth of the child who passed away. Her great-grandfather lived until 1956. They are buried in the Mount Olivet Cemetery.

At the age of 13, Aunt Rose Zarzour quit school to help her father raise her brothers and sisters. She said she would never forget the day she was told her mother had died. Her life was changed forever. They lived at the back of the restaurant until she passed away in 1979. She left the restaurant to Shirley Fuller
upon her death.

Uncle George was the first to die from congestive heart failure. Cindy recalls, "My Aunt Rose had raised him from the time he was two and took his death terribly. You have heard of Middle Eastern women wailing, that is what she did. She literally grieved herself to death almost nine months to the day after he passed. My grandfather, Abe, had already moved to the Overlook apartments, and he lived there until he passed away in 1997 at the age of 88. He always said he was going to live to be 100."

Cindy says of the video: "I never get tired of watching my adorable mother as a child. These videos appear to be from the time she was 3-5 years old. My aunt Rose dressed her from head to toe. Aunt Rose loved nice things and always made sure my mother as a child had a wardrobe that was really something back during that time. As she never had any children, my mother was just like her child. My Uncle George and Iona Allen used to take my mother everywhere they went while they were dating. They thought she was their little girl. Before she passed away a few years ago, Iona looked my mother up and was inquiring about my Uncle George, Aunt Rose and my grandfather Abe. She told my mother she had such fond memories of her as a child. She said my mother was a little doll. I think she was too."

Beginning:

Shirley Zarzour –Fuller and unknown friend are riding on a tricycle in Shannon, Ga. This is the birthplace of my mother. Shannon is located nine miles outside of Rome, Ga., this was probably made in 1939 or 1940.