- Malouf Abraham, Sr.
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Malouf Abraham, Sr. Texas State Representative from District 84 (Later District 79) in Texas Panhandle In office
1967–1971Preceded by Fritz Thompson (District 86) Succeeded by Phillip E. Cates (District 79) Mayor of Canadian, Texas In office
1953–1957Personal details Born July 26, 1915
Canadian, Hemphill County, Texas, USADied May 30, 1994 (aged 78)
Canadian, TexasNationality American Political party Republican Spouse(s) Iris Lewis Abraham (1918-2001) Children Malouf Abraham, Jr. (born 1939)
Betty Abraham Cooper (born 1942)
Bill Ed Abraham (born 1945)Occupation Oi industrialist; Philanthropist Religion Presbyterian Abraham once said that he was fortunate to have been defeated in a race in 1970 for the Texas State Senate so that he could devote full-time to his family and business interests. (2) As a member of the Texas House of Representatives, the Republican Abraham prided himself on returning much of his office expense funding to the state treasury.
(3) From the fortune he made in the oil industry, Abraham was able to engaged in widespread philanthropy.
(4) Of Lebanese descent, the Abrahams became one of the most influential families in Canadian, Hemphill County and the entire Texas Panhandle.
Malouf Abraham, Sr. (July 26, 1915 – May 30, 1994) was a self-made Texas multi-millionaire in the oil and natural gas business and a political and civic leader from Canadian, the seat of Hemphill County in the northeastern Texas Panhandle. He made his fortune in part by leasing mineral rights throughout the eastern Panhandle adjacent to Oklahoma. Abraham was elected to two two-year terms as mayor of his native Canadian in 1953 and again in 1955. Twelve years later, Abraham entered the Texas House of Representatives (1967–1971) as a Republican member from then District 84 (later District 79). In addition to his own Hemphill County, he represented Gray, Hansford, Lipscomb, Ochiltree, Roberts, and Wheeler counties.
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Legislative campaigns and service
Abraham was elected to the Texas House, having served from 1967 to 1971 during the gubernatorial terms of John B. Connally and Preston Smith. In the legislature, Abraham was particularly known for "economy in government." Each year of his service, he spent less on his office staff and maintenance than any other lawmaker.
In 1970, Abraham ran unsuccessfully for the District 31 Panhandle seat in the Texas State Senate vacated by the 30-year incumbent, Grady Hazlewood, an Amarillo Democrat. Abraham trailed the Democrat Max R. Sherman of Amarillo, 33,637 to 37,593 ballots.[1] The loss was in time viewed as a blessing by the Abraham family, recalled his son, Malouf Abraham, Jr., M.D. (born 1939), a retired allergist and patron of the arts from Canadian. It was after the lost election that Abraham's oil and natural gas business skyrocketed, the son explained. Abraham continued to follow political developments and was a delegate to numerous Republican National Conventions. He and several family members journeyed to Washington, D.C., in 1981 for the first inauguration of Ronald W. Reagan.
Early years and education
Abraham, nicknamed "Oofie", was the son of Nahim Abraham (1885–1965) and Alia Abraham (1885–1979), resourceful immigrants from a village in Lebanon who came to the United States through Ellis Island in New York City. The senior Abrahams first lived in Amarillo but then launched a department store in Canadian. They lived frugally in the back of the store until 1938, when they purchased what is now the fourth-generation Abraham family home.
Abraham graduated from Canadian High School when he was fourteen and attended Texas Tech University in Lubbock for three years thereafter, but did not graduate. With an older brother, he got involved in a variety of business ventures, and Abraham ended up with oil and gas holdings, besides owning and operating a restaurant in Canadian, and selling insurance.
Abraham entered the U.S. Army for only eight months in 1945, and was exempt from overseas duty.
Philanthropy
Abraham was a noted philanthropist.[2] He established endowment funds at West Texas A&M University (earlier West Texas State College) in Canyon and at Texas Tech. He established a scholarship fund through the Amarillo Area Foundation that has since benefited numerous Panhandle students who study agriculture in larger and smaller institutions, such as Clarendon College in Clarendon (which two of Abraham's grandsons attended) and Frank Phillips College in Borger in the far northern part of the Panhandle.
The Abrahams also gave generously to the Young Men's Christian Association and the Edward Abraham Memorial Home and the Little House Day Care Center, all in Canadian.
Five generations of Abrahams
Abraham was married to the former Iris Lewis (March 13, 1918 – November 4, 2001), a member of a pioneer Canadian, Texas, family whose roots in Hemphill County date to the 1880s. In addition to Dr. Abraham, the couple had a second son, Bill Ed Abraham (born 1945) of Dallas, and a daughter, Betty Abraham Cooper (born 1942) of Canadian. On his death, Abraham was survived by two older brothers, businessmen Tom Abraham (1910–2007) and Naceeb Abraham (1907–2000); eight grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.
The grandchildren include the three sons of Dr. Abraham Malouf, Jr., and his wife, the former Therese Browne, originally from Mt. Airy, North Carolina. Therese was like her father-in-law the mayor of Canadian; she served in the nonpartisan position (though the Abrahams are all Republicans) from 1982 to 1992. The sons are Eddie Abraham (born 1965), Salem Andrew Abraham (born 1966), and Jason Abraham (born 1969).
Salem Abraham is a businessman, entrepreneur. and a futures trader in Canadian. Like the other Abraham children, he graduated from Canadian High School and then Notre Dame University in South Bend, Indiana. He and his wife, Ruth Ann (born 1967), have eight children, the fifth generation of Abrahams to claim Canadian as their home.[3] Eddie and Jason Abraham and their families reside on large ranches in Hemphill County. The Canadian area is considered unlike most of the Panhandle Plains geographically in that it is more hilly and has more trees than the surrounding counties.
Abraham was also survived by a brother Tom Abraham, who for many years operated a department store in Canadian.
Abraham's Texas legacy
Abraham family grave marker
On Abraham's passing, the Texas House paid tribute through a resolution introduced by area lawmakers David Swinford of Dumas and Warren Chisum of Pampa. The legislators described Abraham as "a man of extraordinary vision and energy who consistently used his unique talents and intelligence to better the world around him; his presence will be deeply missed by all who were privileged to know him, but his rare generosity of spirit will live on in the many good works he leaves behind."
In 2000, the Amarillo Globe News included Abraham among the "100 Most Influential People of the Panhandle of the Twentieth Century". Shortly before his death, the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum in Canyon designated Abraham a "Living Legend".
Abraham and his family are interred at the Edith Ford Cemeteries in Canadian.
Preceded by
Fritz ThompsonTexas State Representative from District 84 (later District 79) Malouf Abraham, Sr.
1967–1971Succeeded by
Phillip E. CatesReferences
- ^ Texas Almanac 1972/1973, Election returns from November 3, 1970
- ^ "Age, infirmity don't deter Panhandle philanthropist" (in Pay-per-view). Amarillo Globe-News. April 30, 1993. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=DM&p_theme=dm&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0ED3D382DAD38EC0&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM. Retrieved November 25, 2010.
- ^ "David Bowser, "Panhandle Water Export Issue Involves More Than One Player", May 17, 2001". livestockweekly.com. http://www.livestockweekly.com/papers/01/05/17/whlabraham.asp. Retrieved January 19, 2010.
Texas Library and Archives, Austin, Texas, 512-463-5455
http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi
http://amarillo.com/login.shtml?orq:http://www.amarillo.com/stories/051900/his_abraham.html
http://www.allernon.com/view.asp?pg=bio
http://www.wbu.edu/c/c06a/gallery.htm
http://www.lubbockonline.com/news/092796/doctor.htm
http://www.aaf-hf.org/scholarships/content/malouf_iris.htm
Categories:- American oil industrialists
- Members of the Texas House of Representatives
- Mayors of places in Texas
- Texas Republicans
- American philanthropists
- People from Hemphill County, Texas
- American Presbyterians
- 1915 births
- 1994 deaths
- American people of Lebanese descent
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