Nayla Rathle

Nayla was the first child of Nassib Boulos and Claude Ayoub, born in Lebanon on February 4 1953, much beloved and cherished by her parents. Four years after her birth, her sister Nevine was born. They both grew up together and those childhood years established between them unbreakable and very loving ties that endured throughout Nayla’s life.

Nayla was a brilliant student and after graduating from school went on to obtain a Business Administration Bachelor’s degree from the American University of Beirut. She worked with 3M until the Lebanese civil war broke out in 1975. She emigrated to France where she worked for an insurance company. 

In 1993, she met her future husband Mario Rathle who was then working in France for an American firm. They married in 1994 in Versailles and moved back to the US in 1995. She quickly found work at the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, working at first in the Director’s office then moving on, after a Certificate at Radcliffe, to become Division Administrator.

Alas, in April 2013 she was diagnosed with lung cancer with metastasis in the brain. She retired from her work in March 2016 when it was found out that the cancer had spread to her spine. She fought her cancer with rage and determination, beating all the odds and surviving nearly 5 years where her doctors had thought she would not live beyond 6 months.

She is survived by her loving husband and sister and her two nephews Philippe and Stephane whom she adored.

Funeral from the Brown & Hickey Funeral Home 36 Trapelo Road Belmont on Wednesday Jan 31 at 8:00 AM. Followed by a funeral mass in St Peter Church 100 Concord Ave. Cambridge at 9:00 AM. Relatives and friends invited. Interment Belmont Cemetery, Belmont.
Donations in lieu of flowers, to your preferred charity, in Nayla’s memory.
 

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Nayla Rathle, please visit our floral store.