06/19/2026
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S. J. Haddad
S. J. Haddad and his bride, Marion, were married in Lebanon when both were 17 years of age. On the very day of the wedding they boarded a ship to emigrate to the United States to join his father and his brother, Frank Haddad, who had settled in Clifton, Arizona.
Upon arrival in Clifton, S.J. worked with his father in the clothing business. Within a short time the Haddads expanded their business interests, and in addition to the clothing store they operated a bus service, transporting people between the towns of Clifton, Metcalf, Morenci, Safford and Duncan.
During the time they were residents in Clifton a daughter, Freeda, was born to S.J. and Marion Haddad, at Morenci, Arizona. When a labor strike closed the mine S.J. and his brother Frank moved to Pima, where they operated a clothing store to earn a living for the family. At that time their father moved to Sonora. A second daughter, Peggy, was born while the family was in Pima.
The young Haddads received many letters from their father, urging them to move to Sonora, where the mines were working and the economy was booming. Without giving the Pima store an opportunity to demonstrate its full potential, the brothers moved once again, and joined their father in his clothing business in Sonora. S.J., feeling that the store was not large enough to support several families, began looking elsewhere. In the meantime his third daughter, Dora, was born in the town of Ray.
In 1926 S.J. Haddad found a vacant building on Main Street in Superior. (The building still stands and currently is the home of the Senior Citizens.) He moved some of the clothing from the Sonora store and established what was known as the Great Bargain Store, and was later re-named People’s Department Store.
In August 1927 two thrilling events happened simultaneously in the life of S.J. Haddad. His fourth child, and only son, Kelly, was
born, on the very day which was the biggest business day he had ever had! To celebrate the occasion he invited the townspeople to refreshments and a dance at the old Two Republics building.
Mrs. Haddad passed away in May, 1934. During the late 1930’s he moved his store to the building presently occupied by John Mitchell. In 1942 S.J. Haddad retired, but his retirement was short-lived. That same year he purchased the Pastime Bar from Tubby Upton. Business was so good that he took in a partner, Mr. Dan Drackovich. Six months later he sold out to his partner and once again retired. Within four years he became bored with retirement, and in 1946 he purchased the Town Tavern bar, which he operated for a short time. Then he beckoned his son-in-law, Emil Cody, who had married the eldest daughter, Freeda, in 1941, to return from Oakland, California and take over operation of the bar. Before long this branch of the family opened and operated Cody’s Department Store. In 1948 the old Town Tavern was remodeled, renamed La Mina, and operated by S.J.’s son, Kelly Haddad.
In January 1957 Peggy and Kelly were married in a double ceremony; she to Ramzy Saoud, and he to Navval Abi-Nader. In the spring of that year Mr. S.J. Haddad died in a freakish automobile accident, which also took the lives of his daughter Freeda and her young son. Freeda’s daughter, now Mrs. Richard Saba, lives in Scottsdale.
Peggy and her husband still live in Superior, where they own and operate the Superior Cleaners. They have two daughters, Sandra (Mrs. David Saba) who lives in Chandler, and Cindy, a recent graduate of ASU.
Dora, who married in 1959 and worked as a social worker in New York, passed away in 1973. She is survived by one son, Noel, who lives in New York.
Kelly Haddad resides in Kearny, where he owns and operates Haddads Fine Apparel and is Justice of the Peace of the Kearny Precinct, a position he has held for the past 24 years. He and his wife Navval have four children. Richard, a graduate of the Air Force Academy is presently flying C-130s at Little Rock, Arkansas. Jacqueline is a senior at ASU in Tempe, and Elaine is a senior at Ray District High School. Kelly, Jr. is a seventh grade student at Kearny Junior High.
