Mansour Tadros, Arab-American publisher of 'The Future News,' dies of COVID-19

NAPERVILLE, Ill. (WLS) -- A key figure in the Arab-American community in the Chicago area lost his battle with COVID-19.

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Mansour Tadros started his own newspaper "The Future News" to help transform the image of the Arab-American community and to help connect and uplift people.

In his last moments, Tadros and his son Fadi shared a laugh over his father's love of quick cleanliness.

"I said, 'Dad, you're going to love this new mop. It's amazing.' He said, 'How long did it take you to clean the floors?' I said, 'Ten minutes, I cleaned.' He said, 'Oh my God!' And he was so happy," Fadi Tadros recalled.

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Those cherished last few laughs between father and son was sealed with shared blessing. Five minutes later, an ambulance was on the way to take newspaper publisher to the E.R.

"When they had carted him away, I said, 'Allah maak, Dad.' And I looked at him in the eyes and said 'Allah maak,' which is 'God be with you,'" Fadi Tadros said. "Those were the last words."

The 70-year-old father of three died on the way to the hospital, losing his battle with COVID-19 last Saturday.

"He was so caring. He was selfless. Everything he did was for the community," Fadi Tadros said. "The last 20 to 25 years he really dedicated his entire life to giving back to others: to being a mentor, to being a father, to being a friend."

His friends say his legacy, in part, will be the community he created by starting and funding his own newspaper "The Future News."

"For him it was about people; and that's what made him a perfect journalist, too," said Ray Hanania, who knew and worked alongside Mansour as journalist for decades.

He said Mansour's goal as an immigrant from Jordan was to help uplift the Arab-American community.

"He wrote about our community as a community," Hanania said. "We weren't a political fight or a statistic."

Ray took video of Mansour's funeral on Tuesday where least 80 cars processed behind the casket and family. No one was able to leave their cars.

"I remember looking back at all the cars and seeing everybody lined up and some people were on top of their cars some people were outside of their window sitting on top of the windows," Fadi Tadros said. "It was something that, looking back, that was something unbelievable."