Afeef Shafeek Hamra was born in 1936 in Jdeidet Merjayoun, Lebanon. He was the eldest son of 6 siblings to his parents, Laura and Shafeek. He attended high school at The Souk El Gharb Boarding School for Boys, then traveled to Oklahoma in 1954 to attend college. He graduated from Oklahoma A&M in 1959 with a degree in Civil Engineering and returned home to Lebanon a few years later to be near his parents and siblings. Afeef was devoted to the care of his parents, sisters, nieces and nephews. He married in 1977 and had two daughters, Lauren and Cindy, who he always said were the joy of his life; the apple of his eye; his right eye and left eye; his life and his soul.
Afeef worked as an engineer at the Ministry of Transportation in Lebanon for twenty years. In 1981, he came to Oklahoma with his family for a two-week break from the civil war in Lebanon. As the war continued, he and his family remained in Oklahoma and began making a new life in Oklahoma City. Afeef worked as a highway engineer at the Oklahoma Department of Transportation until his retirement in 2001.
Afeef was extraordinarily warm and generous; he modeled his values of living an honest life and never taking anything for granted. He selflessly gave to those around him and took immense joy and pride in his daughters and his grandson. He had an amazing memory for facts, dates, and details, making him a master storyteller. Fiercely proud of his origin and family history, Afeef shared his many stories and proverbs with all his family and friends.
He is preceded in death by his parents, Shafeek and Laura Hamra, his sisters Afaf, Jamal, Souad, Diana and his brother Jamil, his nephew Chukri Mouaikel and niece Jane Ghazi. He is survived by his daughter Lauren Hamra, his daughter Cindy Hamra, son-in-law Jacob Dishion, and his long-awaited grandson Nathan Dishion, who loved his Jiddo so much.
Funeral service will be 10:30 a.m., Monday, February 3, 2020 at St. Elijah Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church. Memorial donations may be made to the Flowers That Do Not Wither fund at St. Elijah, 15000 N. May Avenue, Oklahoma City, OK 73134. The family would like to thank the caregivers at the Oklahoma Heart Hospital South for their extraordinary care and kindness and especially cardiologist Dr. Naeem Tahirkheli for giving us so many extra years with our Dad and Jiddo. https://archive.storycorps.org/interviews/mby017246/
