FEBRUARY 2022

WEDDING GUIDE
Ron and Vicki & Ron and Vicki:
The Love Story of Two Couples
BY CRYSTAL KASSAB JABIRO
In 1969, fifteen-year-old Vicki Huckno
met a nearly twenty-year-old Riadh
Jabiro while he was working at his
brother Harry’s party store near where
she lived in Roseville. Riadh had been
in America for about one year, having
immigrated from Baghdad, Iraq. He
spoke British English, as he was taught,
so his accent was a little difficult to understand
at first; however, Vicki was
used to hearing other languages. Her
family was Polish, and all four of her
grandparents were also immigrants.
Vicki had never heard of Chaldeans
before, nor had she ever known anybody
from Baghdad. She had heard of
Iraq’s capital in history class and connected
it to “flying carpets’’ from stories
and movies but knew nothing else
about it. She thought “Ron” was cute so
when he asked her out on a date, she
happily accepted. They went horseback
riding, though neither of them had ever
done that before, and that was the beginning
of something much more substantial.
Four years later, in 1973, the
couple were wed at Vicki’s church, Sacred
Heart in Roseville, one of the first
Catholic churches on the east side.
“I was just crazy about him, and he
felt that same way,” recalled Vicki.
The Chaldean community in metro
Detroit was much smaller at that time
and it was common for men to go
“back home” to marry, returning to the
U.S. with their Chaldean brides. That
was not the case here. Ron introduced
his family to Vicki, and they were very
pleasant, she remembers. They were
very nice and welcoming. They already
had one “American” daughter-in-law
and a few cousins who were also married
to non-Chaldeans in the family.
Ron’s dad spoke some English because
he had worked in a hotel in Baghdad;
his mother’s English was more limited.
Vicki learned about the culture
and could pick up a little conversational
Sureth/Arabic, but she was not
around them so much since the couple
lived “far away” from Detroit in Sterling
Heights - when there were virtually
no Chaldeans there. Now, Sterling
Heights has the highest population of
Chaldeans in metro-Detroit.
Vicki learned to make traditional
rizza w’ maraka (rice and stew) and
in recent years, burek (egg rolls) and
takratha (meat pies). She remembers
her mother-in-law and sisters-in-law
would give them frozen goods, like
potato chop and kibbee, and the
leftovers of a family feast. “He was
the baby of the family, so we got babied!”
she laughed. “Someone was
always giving us food!”
Fast forward to 1985. Raad “Ron”
Ankawi, Ron’s first cousin by the
same Americanized name, meets
a 24-year-old American woman in
Greektown, Detroit. They go to dinner
at Bazouki’s when it was a Middle
Eastern restaurant with Arabic music
and belly-dancing shows. Afterwards,
they danced to Motown music at Scruples
Nightclub nearby.
Like Ron Jabiro, Ron Ankawi also
had a slight accent and came from
Top row:
Ron and Vicki Ankawi
Bottom row:
Ron and Vicki Jabiro
Baghdad. And like Vicki, the young
woman had never heard of Chaldeans
before, nor dated an immigrant. She
had grown up in East Detroit and Clinton
Township where there were no
Chaldeans. In fact, she assumed Ron
might be Greek since she met him in
Greektown! He told her about his culture,
and she was even more intrigued.
Also, like Vicki– they shared the
same first name!
Ron introduced Vicki to his cousin
and best friend, or more like brother,
Ron Jabiro, and his wife Vicki, whom
he considered a sister. The two couples
bonded immediately. Just as the
Rons were like brothers, the Vickis
26 CHALDEAN NEWS FEBRUARY 2022