Born in Beirut, Lebanon on May 25, 1939, Eli was raised in Beirut and Spring Valley Illinois and lived in Evanston (IL), Houston (TX), San Francisco (CA), Fort McMurray (Alberta, Canada), Kuwait City (Kuwait), Endicott (NY), Lincoln Park (NJ), Kincardine (Ontario, Canada), Scarborough (Ontario, Canada), Salwa (Kuwait), Jacksonville (FL), and Naples (FL) before settling in San Diego in 2009.
Eli studied chemical engineering at Northwestern University (Class of ’63) and worked in the petroleum industry building and maintaining oil refineries until returning to graduate school at the University of Toronto obtaining his M.B.A. with a concentration in Economics (Class of ’75). He continued to pursue higher education achieving his ABD (All But Dissertation) designation focusing on energy supply/demand dynamics. He returned to the petroleum industry working as a petroleum industry economist at consultants and oil companies in Toronto, Ontario (Canada) and the Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) in Kuwait. From KNPC he shifted to pure finance roles at the Kuwait Investment Authority and the Gulf Investment Corporation up until the 1991 invasion of Kuwait by Iraq. Post-war he launched a consulting firm that sought to bring corporate finance education to the petroleum industry in the Arabian Gulf which he ran until retiring.
While Eli was an academic at heart and enjoyed the pursuit of knowledge he balanced that pursuit with a good dose of physical activity, soccer and basketball in his younger years, sailing in middle age and tennis in the last few decades. He found groups in Jacksonville, FL and most notably the Coronado Cays Wheezers and Geezers Tennis Group causing mischief in Coronado, CA.
He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Alma Ruth Abssy (Hendrich); sister Labibe Khouery of Beirut, Lebanon; sister Alice Absi of Beirut, Lebanon; sister Samira Chahine of Beirut, Lebanon, son Michael Abssy of Pasadena (CA), son Mark Abssy, his wife Alexis Abssy and grandchildren Miles and Spencer Abssy of Oradell (NJ).
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Saint Ephrem Maronite Catholic Church in Eli’s name. Donations can be made by contacting the Parish office.
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