Hanna Shina is a Chaldean-American community leader, businessman and philanthropist who lives in West Bloomfield, Michigan. Born in Telkaif, Iraq, he owned a store, a coffee shop and a restaurant in Detroit's 7 Mile area, helped found the Chaldean Cultural Center, and in 2025 was named the first Mayor of Shenandoah.
This is the short version of his story, put together by the Detroit Barbers editorial team from his official biography and the reporting it cites. The full account, with the films and the photographs, is on his own website.
Hanna Shina at a glance
- Full name
- Hanna Shina (John Shina in English)
- Lives in
- West Bloomfield, Michigan
- Born in
- Telkaif (Tel Keppe), Iraq
- Educated at
- Baghdad College
- Known for
- Founder and founding board member of the Chaldean Cultural Center
- Board service
- Shenandoah Country Club, more than 20 years
- Community service
- Chaldean foundations and the Chaldean church, more than 40 years
- Honors
- First Mayor of Shenandoah (2025); Founders Gala plaque (2023)
- Former businesses
- A store, a coffee shop and a restaurant in Detroit's 7 Mile area
- Official website
- hannashina.com
Who is Hanna Shina?
Hanna Shina belongs to the generation of Chaldean immigrants who built businesses in Detroit first and community institutions second. He is best known as one of the founders, and a founding board member, of the Chaldean Cultural Center in West Bloomfield, the first and only Chaldean museum in the world. Alongside that he has given more than 40 years to the Chaldean foundations and the Chaldean church, and more than 20 years to the board of Shenandoah Country Club.
His first name is the Aramaic form of John, so in English he is John Shina. You will also see the name spelled Hana Shina or Hanna Shena. All of them refer to the same man, and he goes by Hanna. His site explains why John Shina and Hanna Shina are the same name.
Born in Telkaif, schooled in Baghdad
Hanna Shina was born in Telkaif, also written Tel Keppe, a village on the Nineveh Plain in northern Iraq. It is the village most Metro Detroit Chaldean families trace their roots to. As a young man there he played sports and collected a number of trophies. He attended Baghdad College, the Jesuit-run secondary school in Baghdad, and later immigrated to the United States.
The longer account is in the biography of Hanna Shina.
A store, a coffee shop and a restaurant in Detroit
In Detroit he made his living behind a counter, as many families from his village did. In the 7 Mile area he opened a store, then a coffee shop, then a restaurant. Seven Mile Road near Woodward Avenue was the heart of what became known as Chaldean Town, the first stop for many Chaldean families arriving in the city.
His biography is careful about what is not on record. The names, addresses and years of the three businesses have not been published, so we do not list them here. There is more on the neighborhood in 7 Mile Road and Chaldean Town.
Hanna Shina and the Chaldean Cultural Center
The idea for a Chaldean museum took shape in 2003 at Southfield Manor, and Hanna Shina was one of the community members behind it. Construction began in 2013. The Chaldean Cultural Center opened to the public in May 2017 at 5600 Walnut Lake Road in West Bloomfield, inside Shenandoah Country Club.
The museum has five galleries: Ancient Mesopotamia, Faith and Church, Chaldean Village Life, Journey to America, and Chaldeans Today. In the village gallery, visitors meet Hanna Shina as a hologram, playing a grandfather who teaches his grandson to use a slingshot.
In the center's oral history film he says the museum is “for the children of our Chaldean community,” especially those born and raised in the United States, so they can see how life was lived in the old country. On October 20, 2023, at the center's 20th Anniversary Founders Gala, he was one of eight founders honored with a plaque.
Read more about Hanna Shina's role at the Chaldean Cultural Center. We also wrote about the museum and the township around it in The West Bloomfield Institutions Hanna Shina Helped Build.
The first Mayor of Shenandoah
Shenandoah Country Club is owned by the Chaldean Iraqi American Association of Michigan and doubles as a gathering place for the community: weddings, fundraisers, board meetings and, since 2017, the museum. Hanna Shina has served on its board for more than 20 years. In 2025 the club named him Mayor of Shenandoah, the first time in its history it has given anyone that title.
His site has the full story of the Mayor of Shenandoah honor.
Watch Hanna Shina tell his own story
Two films cover his life. The first is Digital Storytelling | Hanna Shina, a 21-minute oral history interview published by the Chaldean Cultural Center on August 3, 2023, in which he talks about Telkaif, his school, coming to America and why the museum matters to him. The second is The Hanna Shina Story, a three-and-a-half-minute documentary made for his website.
Watch the Hanna Shina oral history film or The Hanna Shina Story documentary.
Why a barbershop is writing about Hanna Shina
Detroit Barbers runs eight barbershops across Metro Detroit. A barbershop is a small neighborhood institution, a room where people from one place keep showing up and talking to each other, and we like to write about the people who built the bigger ones around us.
If you are near West Bloomfield, see our West Bloomfield barbershop guide or all eight Detroit Barbers locations.
Questions about Hanna Shina
- Who is Hanna Shina?
- Hanna Shina is a Chaldean-American community leader, businessman and philanthropist who lives in West Bloomfield, Michigan. He is a founder and founding board member of the Chaldean Cultural Center, and in 2025 he was named the first Mayor of Shenandoah.
- Where is Hanna Shina from?
- Hanna Shina was born in Telkaif, also written Tel Keppe, a village in northern Iraq. He attended Baghdad College, immigrated to the United States and built his working life in Detroit.
- Where does Hanna Shina live?
- Hanna Shina lives in West Bloomfield, Michigan, in Oakland County. West Bloomfield is also home to Shenandoah Country Club and the Chaldean Cultural Center, both at 5600 Walnut Lake Road.
- What is Hanna Shina known for?
- Hanna Shina is known as one of the founders of the Chaldean Cultural Center, the first and only Chaldean museum in the world. He has also served the Chaldean foundations and the Chaldean church for more than 40 years and the Shenandoah Country Club board for more than 20 years.
- Is John Shina the same person as Hanna Shina?
- Yes. Hanna is the Aramaic form of John, so John Shina and Hanna Shina are the same name in two languages and refer to the same man. He goes by Hanna.
- Who is the Mayor of Shenandoah?
- Hanna Shina. In 2025 Shenandoah Country Club in West Bloomfield, Michigan named him Mayor of Shenandoah, the first time in the club's history the title has been given.
- What businesses did Hanna Shina own in Detroit?
- After immigrating to the United States, Hanna Shina opened a store, a coffee shop and a restaurant in the 7 Mile area of Detroit. Their names, addresses and years have not been published.
- What is Hanna Shina's official website?
- The official biography website of Hanna Shina is hannashina.com. It has his biography, both films, his honors and a full list of questions and answers.
Sources: the facts in this article come from the official biography at hannashina.com, which draws on reporting by the Chaldean News and Click On Detroit and on the Chaldean Cultural Center's oral history film. See how the official biography is sourced.
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