Nahim Abraham

This article also contains the biography of Nahim Abraham's son, Tom Abraham.

Nahim Abraham (February 15, 1885 – January 10, 1965) was a Lebanese-American merchant and philanthropist who took a leading role in the 20th century development of Canadian, the county seat of Hemphill County in the Texas Panhandle near the Oklahoma border.

Nahim Abraham biography

Early years in Texas

Born Nahim Malouf in the village of Kafarakab, Lebanon, Abraham made three trips to the United States before finally deciding to relocate to a new homeland. He lived briefly in Utah and considered settling in Brazil before he moved to Amarillo, Texas, with his wife, the former Alia Abdullah Bulos (1883-1979), the daughter of a physician, and their two older sons, Naceeb L. Abraham (1907-2000), who operated an office supply business in Amarillo,^[1] and Tom Abraham, who later purchased his father's mercantile business. The Maloufs took the name "Abraham" while being processed at Ellis Island in New York City. In the summer of 1913, the Abrahams made their permanent home in Canadian, Texas, where they had two more sons, Malouf Abraham, Sr., and Edward Abraham (1917-1961). Malouf, Sr., was nicknamed "Oofie" by classmates. His given name is the original family surname. In 1913, Abraham established the "Fair Store", a department store known regionally for its quality dry goods merchandise.^[2][3][4]

At the time The Fair Store was established, the cattle business was booming with hundreds of drovers in need of supplies. Eventually, the Abrahams moved beyond retailing to real estate and cattle. When ranching began to decline, Malouf, Sr., began to trade oil and natural gas leases.^[5] Nahim retired, and the Fair Store was acquired in 1949 by Tom and his wife, Helen.^[6]

Community builder

Abraham was an elder in the First Presbyterian Church of Canadian, and his son, Tom, worked to establish the existing sanctuary of the church.^[7] In 1950, Abraham purchased the Moody Hotel in Canadian, which had been founded in 1903 by the rancher and banker Robert Moody. After his son Edward died in 1961 at the age of forty-four, Abraham and his other sons endowed the Edward Abraham Memorial Home, a still-standing nursing facility in Canadian named in Edward's honor.^[2]

Abraham died of a heart attack early in 1965, about five weeks before he would have turned eighty. His surviving sons became prominent local businessmen. Malouf, an oilman known as "Oofie", served as mayor of Canadian from 1953 to 1957 and was a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives^[2] from 1967 to 1971; his political career concluded with an unsuccessful race in 1970 for the Texas State Senate against Democrat Max Sherman for the seat vacated by Grady Hazlewood.^[8][9]

Thomas H. "Tom" Abraham
Born	(1910-12-08)December 8, 1910 Kafarakab, Lebanon
Died	February 8, 2007(2007-02-08) (aged 96) Canadian, Hemphill County Texas, USA
Resting place	Edith Ford Cemeteries in Canadian, Texas
Alma mater	Canadian High School Texas Tech University
Occupation	Businessman, philanthropist
Political party	Republican
Religion	Presbyterian Church
Spouse(s)	Helen Ferguson Abraham (m. 1935–2007)
Children	Donna Abraham Stainback Kenneth Abraham Kay Abraham Brown
Parent(s)	Nahim Malouf Abraham and Alia Malouf Abraham
Relatives	Malouf Abraham, Sr. (brother) Malouf Abraham, Jr. (nephew) Therese Browne Abraham (niece by marriage) Salem Abraham (great-nephew)

Tom Abraham biography

Thomas H. Abraham, known as Tom Abraham (December 8, 1910 – February 8, 2007),^[10] was a Lebanese-born American businessman and philanthropist in Canadian in Hemphill County in Texas. Canadian has been called "an oasis on the High Plains".

Abraham was born in Kafarakab, Lebanon, to Nahim Malouf Abraham and Alia Abdullah Bulos Malouf Abraham. He was reared in Canadian, having arrived in town with his parents and older brother in 1913, five years after Canadian was incorporated.^[11] Nahim and Alia Abraham insisted that their children remember the family roots in Lebanon, which they continued to visit when possible. The couple sent money to help poor relatives in Lebanon or to build a community church or school there.^[12] In 1928, Tom Abraham graduated from Canadian High School.^[13][14]

Abraham family association with Texas Tech University

In 1932, Abraham graduated from Texas Tech University in Lubbock, where he played on the Texas Tech Red Raiders football team and was the business manager of The Daily Toreador, the college student newspaper. He helped to launch the Red Raiders Club and was part of the commission which created the Texas Tech Dad's Association, since renamed the Texas Tech Association of Parents. At the time of his death, Abraham was believed to have been the oldest living Texas Tech letterman.^[13][14] In 1981, both Tom and Malouf Abraham were named "Distinguished Alumni" of Texas Tech. Tom Abraham was the first Texas Tech graduate to have received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the institution. In 1981, a $5,000 annual scholarship was established in his honor by his brother, Malouf Abraham, Sr., and sister-in-law, Iris Lewis Abraham.^[15] The Tom Abraham Graduate Fellowship began with a $65,000 initial donation. More than a dozen of the Hemphill County Abrahams attended or graduated from Texas Tech. Tom Abraham's two daughters and son all graduated from there.^[12]

Tom Abraham believes in America. He believes that man's duty is to leave the world better than he found it. During all his life, he has been active in civic affairs, to the betterment of his community and the nation. - Freedoms Foundation, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, 1980

Merchant, father and son

After graduation from Texas Tech, Abraham worked in the dry goods business in Paducah in Cottle County south of Childress.^[16] On April 28, 1935, he married his neighbor, the former Helen Ferguson (August 7, 1915 – February 11, 2008). A native of Merkel near Abilene in Taylor County, Texas, Helen was the daughter of Frank Ferguson and the former Maude Hill.^[17] After their marriage, Tom and Helen moved to Canadian to work in his father's department store called "The Fair Store", a business which opened in 1913, only five years after Canadian was incorporated, and was once known throughout the Panhandle for its high-quality merchandise. After Nahim retired, Tom and Helen became the owners of the business in 1949.^[1][18] Tom Abraham also held three oil and natural gas leases in adjoining Lipscomb County in the far northeastern corner of the Panhandle.^[19]

Edward Abraham Memorial Home

The Abrahams together established the Edward Abraham Memorial Home,^[13] a nursing facility in Canadian, which is named for his youngest brother, businessman Edward Abraham (1917-1961).^[20] When he died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of forty-four, Edward Abraham, who had been in the jewelry, restaurant, and real estate businesses in Canadian,^[21] had been working to establish a community-sponsored nursing home. With a $50,000 initial contribution from the Abraham family,^[22] a federal grant, and other funds raised by the community, the facility opened in 1964 with thirty-seven beds; by 1974, the capacity had increased to care for fifty-eight persons.^[23]

In 1975, the home had financial problems, a matter believed related to inflation and the failure of the Abrahams to seek community donations: "I think we've been a little to bashful about asking for help," said Tom Abraham.^[24] In June 1975, Tom Abraham, representing his family, was honored in Houston by the Texas Association of Homes for the Aging for the Abraham family's commitment to the Edward Abraham Home.^[25]

Organizations

Tom Abraham was a member of Rotary International,^[26] the Masonic lodge,^[13]Shriners,^[27]United Way of America,^[28] the March of Dimes,^[29] the Boy Scouts of America^[30] and the youth-mentoring group, Big Brothers.^[31] was a volunteer at the River Valley Pioneer Museum, established in Canadian in 1986.^[32] He was the auctioneer for the Women Service League.^[33] The Abraham Trophy, which was frequently presented by Tom Abraham, is awarded annually to the "most outstanding" eighth grade student in Canadian.^[34]

Abraham received "Man of the Year"^[13] designation from the Canadian-Hemphill County Chamber of Commerce and served as president more than once^[35][36] and on committees of the organization, such as Highways and Lake Marvin, an artificial lake in Hemphill County established for recreation, flood control, soil conservation, wildlife protection.^[37][38] In 1979, Abraham was presented the "Key to the City" award by then Mayor George Arrington.^[39]

The Abrahams was instrumental in the construction of the original Presbyterian Church in Canadian, Texas.

Tom Abraham was a member of the Hemphill County Appraisal Board, established effective January 1, 1982. The board determines uniform property tax assessment rates for all taxing bodies in the county.^[40]

Abraham was a superintendent of worship^[41] and later instrumental in building the original sanctuary of his church, the First Presbyterian Church in Canadian.^[13]

Patriotic honors

During World War II, Tom Abraham was co-chairman of the United War Chest in Hemphill County.^[42] Years later, he received the Americanism Award from the Daughters of the American Revolution, an honor given only to immigrants who helped other immigrants obtain United States citizenship.^[43][44] In 1976, he chaired the Hemphill County Bicentennial Commission.^[45][46] In 1979, then Canadian Mayor George Arrington presented Abraham with the "Key to the City".^[47]

In February 1980, Abraham received the "Encased George Washington Honor Medal" from Freedoms Foundation in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.^[48] He received a telegram two months earlier on the day of his mother's funeral notifying him of his selection.^[49] Abraham's citation reads: "Tom Abraham believes in America. He believes that man's duty is to leave the world better than he found it. During all his life, he has been active in civic affairs, to the betterment of his community and the nation." Honored along with Abraham were U.S. Senator Jake Garn of Utah, former actress and U.S. Ambassador Shirley Temple Black, actor James Stewart, and singer John Denver.^[50]

The Republican Abrahams

Abraham's, brother Malouf Abraham, Sr., named for the original family surname, was a wealthy oil and natural gas developer and philanthropist who was mayor of Canadian from 1953 to 1957, and a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives from 1967 to 1971. His nephew Malouf Abraham, Jr., is a retired Canadian, Texas, physician with specialty in allergies and an active patron of the arts. His niece by marriage, Therese Browne Abraham, was mayor of Canadian from 1981^[51] to 1991. All of the Abrahams became Republicans and were generous donors to the party.^[52]

In 1953, Tom Abraham attended a dinner in Pampa in which Republican U.S. Representative Walter Judd of Minnesota addressed post-Korean War foreign policy issues during the Cold War.^[53] In 1976, Abraham was the Hemphill County chairman for Ronald W. Reagan's insurgent intraparty challenge to U.S. President Gerald R. Ford, Jr.^[54] In 1978, Abraham was elected in a write-in vote to succeed Royce Jones as the Hemphill County Republican chairman.^[55] In 1980, he was the Hemphill County chairman for the Reagan-Bush ticket.^[56]

Tom Abraham's death and legacy

Tom Abraham died of lengthy complications from a stroke in the Hemphill County Hospital in Canadian. In addition to his wife, he was survived by three children, Donna A. Stainback of Greenville, Texas, Kenneth "Ken" Abraham and his wife, Renee Abraham, of Lubbock, and Kay A. Brown and her husband, Terry Brown, of Canadian; nine grandchildren, and seventeen great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, all three brothers, and a son-in-law, Raiford Hammond Stainback, Jr.^[13]

Two of Abraham's minister-granddaughters, Ashley A. Hood and Kari Stainback, officiated at his funeral, which was held in the First Christian Church of Canadian. Tom and Helen Abraham are interred in the Edith Ford Cemeteries in Canadian.^[13] Abraham family gravestones mention their origin in Kafarakab but the spelling used is "Kafrakab", without the "a" after the "f." The Texas State Historical Association in an article on Nahim Abraham also uses "Kafrakab".^[57]

Tom Abraham grave in the Edith Ford Cemeteries in Canadian, Texas

Tom Abraham's obituary reads that he was known for his kindness to others.^[13] He was included in the group "Seven Who Care" from KVII-TV in Amarillo. In 1992, the Amarillo Globe News in a feature article referred to him, accordingly: "Santa Claus is alive and giving in Canadian."^[10] The Canadian Record reported at Christmas 1960 that the Abrahams had placed a giant Santa Claus in their front yard.^[58] In the 1985 book Hemphill County History, Abraham describes his fellow citizens of Canadian as having pride, purpose, and determination: "I know Canadian folks - they just don't give up."^[11]

On February 9, 2006, a year before his death, Abraham was interviewed by the Southwest Collection at Texas Tech University. In this oral history conducted by David Marshall, Abraham discusses his life, career, and education at Texas Tech.^[59][60][61]

References