Ghazi Jamal Hashem

July 10, 1934 - March 7, 2017

By Mary and Faisal Hashem

There's not much that we could say that might sound new to you. We all knew Ghazi quite personally - his patience and understanding, his sensitivities and sensibilities, and enduring courage.

He lost a daughter when we were young and almost his wife. He suffered many of the hells that this life could conjure. But no one ever really knew because he was so strong that he refused to burden others with what he called "the good, bad and the ugly" that humans simply must endure. And he was often a shoulder to cry on.

Recently he just volunteered "I don't care what's on my epitaph but keep it simple." We asked if he had any suggestions and he said "I don't know, say that I was a good husband and a good father." We thought, if anything, that's an understatement. He cared, he shared, and he was generous. He often introduced us as his best friends. And he adored his family. He sometimes spoke of his daughter Samiah and his parents and wanting to be with them again. He was a magnanimous force, and in our blood.

We have to say that, as his wife and son he was a tough act to follow. He was honest, principled, thoughtful, and all the other good words. He was decent and approachable. He dressed well and cared about his impression on people but at the same time he was never pretentious. Add to that a brilliant, pragmatic yet tolerant, eclectic, even prognostic mind, a confident yet accepting soul, and you get Ghazi.

Though at home he was humble about it, he had a better than average, perhaps accomplished career, for which he credited his maker, good parents and good friends. He was not a willy-nilly optimist; he knew how to manifest results from ideas.

Not many families would put a man's employer in his epitaph but he spoke of his weatherboard family with cheerfulness and energy and we could tell that he was cared about, and that he knew it. If we ever saw him proudful, it was about his good friend Bernard and his office. But he knew he was blessed and spoke so very highly of his work community, his mainstay of friendship, he loved you all and felt supported.

Throughout our life he put our health and welfare first. People meet, become friends, make families and have reunions on mother earth; why not in the next life? That is our Ghazi, and we can't wait to be with him again.

Graveside service will be held on Friday, March 10, 2017 at 11:00 a.m. at Forest Park East Cemetery. Please meet in the lobby at Forest Park East Funeral Home, 21620 Gulf Freeway, Webster, TX 77598 at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, March 10, 2017.