Tom Abraham

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Tom Abraham (probably December 8, 1910 – February 8, 2007) was a Lebanese-born American businessman and civic leader in Canadian, the county seat and the only community in Hemphill County, located in the northeastern part of the Texas Panhandle in the United States, adjacent to Oklahoma.

He was born in the village of Kafracab, Lebanon, to Nahim Malouf (1885–1965) and Alia Malouf (1885–1979), but the parents changed their surname to "Abraham" when they entered the United States through Ellis Island. Abraham grew up in Canadian and graduated from Canadian High School in 1928.

In 1932 Abraham graduated from Texas Tech University in Lubbock, where he played on the football team and was the business manager of the Toreador, the Tech student newspaper. He helped to launch the Red Raider Club and was part of the commission which created the Texas Tech Dad's Association (later the Texas Tech Association of Parents). Prior to his death, Abraham was believed to have been the oldest living Texas Tech letterman.

After graduation from Tech, Abraham married the former Helen Ferguson of Paducah in Cottle County. She also graduated from Tech in 1932. He worked in his father's "Fair Department Store" and eventually became the owner.

He was instrumental in building the original sanctuary of his church, the First Presbyterian Church of Canadian. He and his brothers also helped to establish the Edward Abraham Memorial Home. He was active in the Rotary Club and the Masonic lodge in Canadian.

In his later years, Abraham received "Man of the Year" designation from the Canadian-Hemphill County Chamber of Commerce and the Americanism Award from the Daughters of the American Revolution, an honor given only to immigrants who helped other immigrants obtain citizenship. In 1976, he chaired the Hemphill County Bicentennial Commission. In 1980, he received the Freedoms Foundation Award in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.

Abraham died of lengthy complications from a stroke in Hemphill County Hospital in Canadian. In addition to his wife, he was survived by three children, Donna Abraham Stainback of Greenville, Ken Abraham and his wife Renee Abraham of Lubbock, and Kay Abraham Brown and her husband Terry Brown of Canadian; nine grandchildren, and seventeen great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, three brothers, and a son-in-law, Raiford Stainback, Jr. One of his brothers was Malouf Abraham, Sr. (1915–1994), a wealthy oil and natural gas developer and philanthropist who was mayor of Canadian from 1953 to 1957, and a Democratic member of the Texas House of Representatives from 1965 to 1969. One of his nephews was Malouf Abraham, Jr., (born 1939), a retired Canadian, Texas, physician who specialized in allergies and an active patron of the arts. All of te Abrahams became Republicans and were generous donors to the party.

Two of Abraham's minister-granddaughters officiated at his funeral, which was held in the First Christian Church of Canadian. He is interred in the Edith Ford Memorial Cemetery in Canadian.

His obituary says that Abraham was known for his kindness to others. In 1992 the Amarillo Globe News in a feature article referred to him accordingly: Santa Claus is alive and giving in Canadian."