Gamal Tawfik Ibrahim

Gamal Tawfik Ibrahim was born on October 19,1954 in Zagazig, Egypt to Tawfik and Miriam. Jim grew up in Zagazig and loved playing soccer as a boy. He excelled at mathematics and so pursued a degree in Accounting. As a young man, he also excelled at soccer and became one of the strikers for the Egyptian National Team. Once, he played in an exhibition game against Brazil with none other than the elegant Pele as the Brazilian striker. He said he stood on the field in amazement watching Pele and then realized, "Yikes! I'm in the game, too!"

Jim came to the United States of America in 1980 and, after a seven-year process, proudly became a US citizen on March 23, 1987. Thinking his name was too difficult for most to pronounce (and for many it was) he chose the name Jim which was fitting since, in Egypt, he is called Jimmy.

Jim loved to travel and had worked summers in Switzerland, Germany and France, but he just loved America the beautiful. His brother Aziz was a professor of mathematics at SUNY Brockport University in upstate New York and sponsored him as he began his pursuit of US citizenship.

Jim moved to the San Francisco Bay area of California in 1980 and was an accountant for the Bank of America Corporate Headquarters in San Francisco. In 1988, Jim decided to take a job with the Defense Contract Audit Agency in San Jose, CA and rented a townhome in Santa Clara. It is there that he met his neighbor, Sharon O'Brien, a recent college grad and single mom to six-year-old Angela. Jim and Sharon were married on May 20,1989 at the San Jose Municipal Rose Garden.

Not long after that, Jim's job took the family to Rochester, New York where Patrick was born. Then, they lived a year and a half in Buffalo, NY before moving to Columbus, OH where they settled for several years.. In Columbus, Jim enjoyed coaching youth soccer at both the local recreational league and at the children's Christian school where he was known as "Coach I.

Jim loved sharing a good joke; often laughing so much before he got to the punch line that we all laughed with him before we heard the end of the joke. Jim was aces at chess and loved visiting Egypt to be with his beloved family and friends there. Did I mention baklava? He made the best homemade baklava on the face of the earth!

During tax season he used his vast knowledge and CPA certification to conduct his tax business from home, often using it as a ministry to many and regularly visited clients in their home to conduct business.

Jim loved the United States of America so much that he was often seen wearing the red white and blue, even overseas. And most of his birthday cakes had to be the American flag. Jim was a no-nonsense auditor and tax preparer, a loving husband and father and

a great friend. Jim Ibrahim is survived by his wife Sharon Ibrahim, his three children, Angela, Patrick and his wife Linda and granddaughter Cordelia, and Natalie.

A visitation for Gamal will be held Monday, June 9, 2025 from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM at Miller-Jones Menifee Memorial Park and Mortuary, 26770 Murrieta Rd., Menifee, CA 92585, followed by a graveside service from 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM.