Obituary of Elleni IMRU

July 1, 1934 – Ethiopia
December 23, 2019 – Calgary, Alberta

“There was a door to which I found no key. There was a veil through which I might not see.”

                Omar Khayyam

Elleni Imru, beloved wife of Bekele Teferi Zeleke of Calgary, AB, passed away on Monday, December 23, 2019 at the age of 85 years.

Elleni was born in Harar at the time of the Italian invasion of Ethiopia. In 1936, while her father, Ras Imru Haile Selassie, was taken to Italy as a Prisoner of War (after several months of maintaining an underground movement), her mother, seven sisters and her brother fled to Jerusalem. They lived in exile with few possessions and relying on support from the British.

Returning to Ethiopia, Elleni was under the care of her eldest sister and under private tutelage. In the 1950’s, she lived in London where she experienced racial segregation (“Do not rent” signs), and where she attended the all-girls’ school, Wycombe Abbey. The school instilled in her an education for citizenship, and she excelled in track, visual art and literature. She would often recite whole verses of poetry—Wordsworth and Tennyson—from memory.

In 1956, Elleni travelled with her father, Ras Imru Haile Selassie, Crown Councillor and Ambassador, to India. She lived in Delhi for several years, and was deeply affected by India’s independence movement, and the campaign opposing untouchability and caste.

In the 60’s, Elleni began teaching at Nazareth School, where she was widely known as the most elegant of teachers. Students would often recognize her from the click of her high heels. Always socially and politically progressive, she initiated public educational broadcasting, and taught primary school subjects on national television.

Elleni first met her husband, Dr. Zeleke, while still living in London and again in Delhi in 1957, while he was attending a medical conference. They made their vows to each other while driving a small Volkswagon bug through Maychew, Makelle, and Bahr Dar, and while also trying to avoid roadside rebels and steering through elephant grass.

Elleni married in 1968 and       she and Dr. Zeleke immediately moved to Gondar where he was appointed Dean of the Public Health College and where her sister, Marta, and husband, Colonel Tamrat, the Governor of Gondar, also lived. In 1973, just prior to the Ethiopian revolution, Elleni fled Ethiopia to Toronto, Canada with Dr. Zeleke and her three children.

Elleni taught daycare while in Canada and then in 1980, she travelled to Guyana and later to Barbados with her children and husband who was posted there as a representative of the World Health Organization. She was most enchanted by the geography of the Caribbean, very much engaged in Indigenous art and literature, and often took long walks at the sea wall or at the beach. She was known for driving a hard bargain at Stabroek Market or in Hastings.

Elleni and Dr. Zeleke retired to Calgary, Alberta in 1990. She especially appreciated the long summer days, Chinooks, mountain air and her garden.

Besides her loving husband Bekele Teferi Zeleke, Elleni is survived by her daughter, Ye Libe (Libby) Zeleke (James Thompson), her son, Guermame (Patou) Zeleke (Jennifer Zeleke), her youngest daughter, Elleni (Centime) Zeleke; her step-son, Dereje Zeleke; and her sisters, Marta and Mamiye Imru.

She was predeceased by her four sisters, Yemiserach Imru, Hirut Imru (Professor of Sociology and Social Work); Yodite Imru (Ethiopian Representative to the UN General Assembly, Vice-Minister, Minister of State and Ambassador); Rufael Tsige Mariam Imru (General Archivist), and her brother, Mikael Imru (former Prime Minister of Ethiopia).

Elleni will be fondly remembered by her grandchildren, cousins, nieces, nephews, and many extended family members and friends.

Everyone who remembers Elleni, will remember her grace, generosity, and her incredible poise and integrity. She was dauntless.

In lieu of flowers, her family asks that you do an unexpected and unsolicited act of kindness, and live in the spirit of generosity and hospitality in her name.

Her immediate family wishes to express their profound gratitude to family and friends for their love and support. We invite you to share condolences, memories and photos on Elleni’s obituary at www.McInnisandHolloway.com.

A tree will be planted in living memory of Elleni Imru. McInnis and Holloway Funeral Homes, Park Memorial, 5008 Elbow Drive S.W., Calgary, AB T2S 2L5, Telephone: 403-243-8200.