SEPTEMBER 2023

COVER STORY
Dreaming Bigger Dreams
A profile of Thomas Denha
BY ADHID MIRI, PHD
In the early and mid-20th century,
countless numbers of young Iraqi
men were moving from villages to
fill up major Iraqi cities like Baghdad,
Mosul, and Basra. But a few visionaries,
courageous young men, were
more adventurous and turned their
faces another way, journeying west to
the United States of America. The late
Thomas Denha was one of them.
Early Life
Denha, a Chaldean Christian, was
born in the village of Telkeppe in
Iraq in 1927. He spent most of his
early life in Telkeppe with his parents
Mansouri Denha and Jamila (Nafsu)
Denha. Thomas is the second eldest
of 6 siblings (Yousif, Sabri, Hanneh
Semaan, Julie Hanna, Najeeba Yaldo,
and Samira Kassab). He attended
school in Mosul.
Thomas’ father Mansouri and his
brother Elias owned a tahini mill along
with their extended family. They all
worked in the fields and operated their
own manufacturing business making
tahini, a paste made from sesame
seeds. The extended Denha family
were (and still are) widely known as
the original manufacturers of tahini
in the region; they made a good living
selling their brand name and premier
product to other villages in the
Nineveh Province and Duhok.
Coming to America
Dreaming bigger dreams, Thomas decided
to venture to America when he
was 18 years old. He arrived in New
York Harbor shortly after the end of
World War II. Upon his arrival in Michigan,
he stayed one night with relatives
in Detroit, in a small, noisy, and
overcrowded house.
Appreciative of the help but knowing
he needed to strike out on his own,
Thomas packed his suitcase and left,
despite not knowing where to go or
what to do. William Shakespeare once
said, “The best things in life happen
by chance,” and by chance, as Thomas
was strolling the old streets of Detroit,
Thomas Denha through the years.
he spotted a party store with a familiar
Chaldean face within.
Thomas went in and greeted the
man in Sureth, which put a smile on
the face of the person who turned out
to be the owner; he also was a Chaldean
from the village of Telkeppe.
Thomas told him, “I am new here. I
just arrived from Iraq. I have no money,
no place to live, and I need a job.”
The man immediately embraced
him and offered him accommodations
and a job at his store. That wonderful
welcoming man was Aziz Hesano. After
a few months, Thomas moved to a
rooming house with other Chaldean
men like him who would become his
lifelong friends —Najeeb Garmo, Louie
Denha, and Buddy Atchoo, among
others. They remained close friends
throughout their lives.
Building a Family
The young bachelor Thomas was not
used to the harsh, frigid winters of
Michigan. In 1954, he decided to travel
back to the warm weather of Iraq. It
was that year that he married his wife,
Virgine Nadhir, and they both made
their way back to Michigan. At the time,
there were about 150 Chaldeans in the
metro Detroit area. The small Chaldean
community was close knit and saw
each other at church each Sunday, and
of course, during community events,
communions, and weddings.
Thomas and Virgine started their
life together in Highland Park but
moved to Beverly Hills in response to
the riots in Detroit. Theirs was a special
marriage, anchored in faith, love
and respect. Together, they raised five
children: Roger, Cindy, Connie, Mark,
and Kevin. Virgine still lives in the
family home nearly 60 years later. She
now has 3 daughters-in-law (Karen,
Nesreen and Contessa Denha), a sonin-law
(Jay Yasso), 12 grandchildren,
and 8 great grandchildren.
Even though Thomas himself did
not complete high school, he understood
the importance of education and
acquiring new skills. He was adamant
that his children receive a quality education
and even encouraged his sons
to go away to school—during a time
when very few Chaldean children left
home for school. As a result, all his
children have degrees, careers, and
successful businesses.
The World of Business
Like many other Iraqi immigrants during
that time, Thomas started working
for other Chaldeans at grocery stores in
Detroit. Also, like many others, he eventually
went on to own his own business.
Stores Thomas owned include Food
Time Market and Superland Market; he
partnered in a Howard Johnsons restaurant
with his good friend Gabe Esshaki.
In 1975, he made the daring move to a
growing suburb, Sterling Heights, to
open Grape Vine Wine Shop.
Denha saw the potential of the
area and made note of the growing
residential base. A few years later,
he opened a second Grape Vine store
two miles away; he later built a large
shopping center at that same location.
That location would later become
the first home of the Chaldean
Community Foundation.
Thomas also took the bold risk of
investing in land in California during
a time when only a few other Chaldeans
were doing so. In the late 1980s,
Thomas, his son Mark, and his cousin
Mike Denha purchased a large parcel
of land in Temecula and worked
tirelessly on meeting zoning requirements.
That endeavor took close to
a decade to complete, but that didn’t
dampen Thomas’ spirits. He loved real
estate and business and passed on this
passion to his children.
Despite his limited education,
Thomas learned English and was an
avid reader of business news, specifically
the Wall Street Journal. He took
educated risks in business and was
fearless in doing so. He earned respect
from all entities he interacted with.
He was also very close to Chaldean
investors, networking with many
bankers, including Jewish lenders. He
learned about real estate, and then became
a commercial broker and started
his own firm, Thomas Realty. In that
capacity, he helped many newcomers
to America find stores and become
business owners themselves.
Thomas was not only business
smart, but more significantly, he was
people smart. He had great intuition
and the ability to “get it done,” no
matter the task, with grit and determination.
Helping others
“My journey was not easy,” said Thomas
in a previous interview. “America is
the place to come to change your life….
to start a new life.” He recalled, “I was
the first one in my family to come to
the United States. It took me three
months to come to America.”
In 1962, John F. Kennedy signed
the Migration and Refugee Assis-
18 CHALDEAN NEWS SEPTEMBER 2023