Malouf Abraham, Sr.

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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. A decade later, he entered the Texas House of Representatives.

1 Legislative campaigns and service
2 Early years and education
3 Philanthropist from Canadian, Texas
4 Five generations of Abrahams
5 Abraham's Texas legacy
6 References

[edit] Legislative campaigns and service

Abraham was elected as a Democrat to the Texas House, having served from 1965 to 1969 during the gubernatorial administration of Democrat and later Republican John B. Connally. Abraham defected to the Republicans even before Connally made his switch in 1973. 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 1968, rather than seeking a third term in the Texas House, Abraham ran unsuccessfully for a state Senate seat. He was defeated by the Democrat Max Sherman, then of Canyon, the seat of Randall County south of Amarillo. The defeat was in time viewed as a blessing by the family, recalled his son, Dr. Malouf Abraham, Jr. (born 1939), a retired allergist and patron of the arts from Canadian. It was after the lost election that Abraham's oil and gas business really 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., for the first inaugural of Ronald W. Reagan in 1981.

[edit] 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. He did not graduate; he left Tech at eighteen, believing that he had sufficient formal education to make a success in the world. In 1936, he and an older brother, Naceeb L. Abraham, went to the Texas statehood centennial celebration in Dallas. They opened a booth that offered prizes to those patrons whose ages and weights the brothers could not guess within a reasonable range. They even sold horned toads. The Abraham brothers hence developed a knack for establishing businesses. In addition to oil and gas holdings, Malouf Abraham owned and operated a restaurant in Canadian. He sold insurance with Naceeb, who later resided in Amarillo. He ran a coat check service at the Texas State Fair held in the early autumn in Dallas. Some called him a "wheeler-dealer".

Abraham entered the U.S. Army for only eight months in 1945. Though World War II was still underway, he never left the country. He was based in Mineral Wells in Palo Pinto County west of Dallas. Because of his three small children, he was exempt from overseas duty.

[edit] Philanthropist from Canadian, Texas

Abraham was also a noted philanthropist who touched the lives of many people through his benevolence and his interest in varied fields. 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.

His son Malouf endowed the Malouf Abraham Family Art Center at Baptist-affiliated Wayland Baptist University in the Panhandle city of Plainview. Abraham, Jr., was a member of the Texas Commission on the Arts. None of the Abrahams are Baptist, but Abraham, Jr., said he felt the Holy Spirit calling him to do something for Wayland Unviersity. Abraham, Sr., and many in the family were (are) Presbyterian, but Abraham, Jr., is Catholic.

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.

[edit] 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 and 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 (also born 1966), have eight children, the fifth generation of Abrahams to claim Canadian as their home. Eddie and Jason Abraham and their familes 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.

[edit] Abraham's Texas legacy

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 Museum in Canyon designated him a "Living Legend".

Abraham and his family are interred in the Edith Ford Memorial Cemetery in Canadian.

Meanwhile, Canadian can prepare for the fifth generation of Abrahams to take charge in the ensuing decades. The Salem Abraham family in fact resides in the renovated home established by the first generation of Abrahams.