Galal S. Goubran

Galal Shoukry Emil Goubran was born in Cairo, Egypt on October 27, 1938 and registered in the record of births on November 7, 1938. His parents, Emil Goubran and Emily Bishara, were devout Coptic Orthodox Christians who gave him the name Galal Shoukry (Arabic for “glorious gratitude”) to express their sincere thanks to God for the gift they received. Galal grew up in a prominent family, as his father was one of few Christian justices to ever be appointed to the Egyptian Supreme Court.

In 1960, he graduated from the Cairo University Faculty of Medicine at the age of 22, the youngest in his class. During the internship year, he met and married the love of his life, Fawzia Gadallah, also a physician. They served for several years as the only physicians in a number of Egyptian rural communities. They had two children, Bassem who died of congenital heart disease at 3 months of age and Sherif , now a pediatric surgeon in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

In 1969, Galal completed his residency training and became an orthopedic surgeon, one of only two surgeons serving a population of over 2 million. He practiced his specialty with humility and a heart for the poor, insisting to give each patient the same quality of care regardless of their financial means. He also served in the Egyptian military as an orthopedic surgeon during the Yom Kippur War. In the mid 1970’s, Galal and Fawzia spent two years in Nigeria and 4 years in Saudi Arabia, working in low resource communities.

They returned to Egypt in 1977 and remained there until they immigrated to the United States and settled in Southern California in 1988. At age 50, Galal went through the arduous process required for a foreign physician to obtain medical privileges and a license to practice in the US. He successfully completed all requirements and was started practicing medicine in Southern California in 1993. He continued to practice until two weeks before his passing.

Galal lost his wife on May 15, 2008 and continued to miss her daily. His weekly Saturday ritual was a visitation to her grave, 45 minutes away from his house, where he would pray and reflect. In addition to his medical practice, he was active in his church parish. On Sundays, he was often the first to arrive at liturgy, sometimes before the priests! In 2009, he visited the Holy Land, something he aspired to since his childhood.

Galal is survived by his only son, Sherif Emil, his daughter in law, Marie Demian, his two grand-daughters, Gabrielle and Elyana, and his sister Samia Goubran, a pharmacist in Cairo, Egypt. He left behind a legacy of hard work, dedication, sacrifice, integrity, and service. He has reached his final rest in the arms of the Lord.

In lieu of flowers, tax-deductible donations can be made to City of Hope National Medical Center by sending a check to City of Hope Attn: Kimberly Wah 1500 E. Duarte Rd., Duarte, CA 91010.

Add “in memory of Galal Goubran” in memorandum or online at;

https://secure.cityofhope.org/donate/Main/CardsForHope.aspx?_ga=2.201998545.1903042376.1504812744-1140768272.1504812744

Please write “Galal Goubran” in the in memory of box

All donations will be channeled to the leukemia research program of Dr. Guido Marcucci.