Tom Abraham

Thomas A. Abraham, known as Tom Abraham (December 8, 1910 - February 8, 2007) was a Lebanese-born American businessman,civic figure, and philanthropist in Canadian, the county seat and the only community in Hemphill County in the northeastern Texas Panhandle adjacent to Oklahoma.
Biography
Abraham was born in the village of Kafarakab (Kafar Acab), 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 in New York City. Abraham grew up in Canadian and graduated in 1928 from Canadian High School.
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 for The Daily Toreador, the Tech student newspaper. He helped to launch the Red Raiders Club and was part of the commission which created the Texas Tech Dad's Association (later the Texas Tech Association of Parents). At the time of his death, Abraham was believed to have been the oldest living Texas Tech letterman. Tom and Helen moved to Canadian to work in the senior Abraham's "Fair" Department Store and eventually became the owners.
Two of Abraham's minister-granddaughters officiated at his funeral, which was held in the First Christian Church of Canadian. Tom and Helen Abraham are interred in the Edith Ford Memorial Cemetery in Canadian. His obituary reads that Abraham was known for his kindness to others.<ref name=obit/> 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."<ref name=findagrave/>
Abraham's gravestone has a misspelling of the name of the town in which he was born.

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