Mack Abraham

Mack Abraham died on March 13, 2017.  He was born on March 23, 1925 in Vinton, Louisiana, the fifth child of Joseph and Helen Mack Abraham.  He attended elementary and high school in Vinton, Sulphur and Lake Charles.  He graduated from Lake Charles High School in 1941.  He attended McNeese Junior College for two years, and then joined the United States Navy, where he was placed in the Navy V-12 Program at Notre Dame University.  He then attended Cornell University and was placed in the Navy Midshipman School where he received his commission as an officer in the United States Navy serving on an aircraft carrier in the Pacific theatre.  Upon discharge from the Navy in 1946, Mr. Abraham attended Louisiana State University, where he received his degree in mechanical engineering with an aeronautical option.

His engineering career began in 1946 at Cities Service Refining Corp., followed by Petroleum Chemicals, Inc., and CITGO Refining Corp until 1966 when he went into private business as the owner and operator of Abe’s Food Center and as a partner in Beverage Sales, Inc.

Mr. Abraham was a member of the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, serving on the Vestry, as a Junior Warden and as Senior Warden, and on the Episcopal Day School Board as Chairman.  He was a Registered Professional Engineer, State of Louisiana, a member of the Louisiana Engineering Society, the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, the Public Affairs Research Council, the McNeese State University Foundation, the McNeese State University Alumni Association, and the Louisiana State University Alumni Association.

Mr. Abraham was Chairman of the Board of the National Bank of Commerce, State Chairman of the Louisiana Retailers Association, and the State Chairman of the Louisiana Food Dealers Association.

He was a delegate to the 1973 Louisiana Constitutional Convention.  He served as a member of the Board of Trustees for State Colleges and Universities, the Board of Supervisors for Southern University, the Governor’s Office of Consumer Protection and the Dairy Stabilization Board. 

In 1974, Mr. Abraham was a recipient of the Southwest Louisiana Bar Association Liberty Bell Award, the Louisiana Engineering Society 1985 A.M. Lockett Award, the Louisiana Engineering Society 1985 A.M. Lockett Award, the Lake Charles Association of Retarded Citizens and 1977 Employer of the Year Award and was a lifetime honorary member of Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society and a lifetime honorary member of Blue Key Honor Society.

He is survived by his wife of sixty-two years, Mildred Harlan Abraham, daughter, Suzanne A. Reeves and husband Charles W. Reeves, Jr.; two grandsons, Abe Reeves and Jacob Reeves; two brothers, George Abraham and Sammy Abraham and one sister, Sylvia Abraham Seals.

He was preceded in death by his parents; three brothers, Reverend Nicholas Joseph Abraham, Johnny Joseph Abraham and August “Gus” Abraham and one sister, Mary Abraham Burnham.

Funeral services will be at 11:00 AM Friday, March 17, 2017 at the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd under the direction of Johnson Funeral Home.  The Very Reverend Jack Myers will officiate.  Interment will follow in Consolata Cemetery.  Visitation Thursday will be from 4:00 PM until 7:00 PM in the Chapel of the Resurrection at the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd.

Memorial donations may be made to the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, 715 Kirkman Street, Lake Charles, LA 70601 or the Bishop Noland Episcopal Day School, 803 Division Street, Lake Charles, LA 70601.