Philip Absi

December 27, 1929 - January 18, 2021

Philip Elias Absi, age 91, was called home to the waiting arms of our Lord and savior on Monday, January 18, 2021. Born in Damascus, Syria on December 27, 1929, the loving son of Elias and Mary (Salooma) Absi. Philip is predeceased by his brother Anthony and survived by his sister, Odette, brother, Nabil (Inaam), sister Dalal (Bill Fenwick) and sister Halla. Philip emigrated to the United States aboard the Queen Mary II, arriving in New York City on December 23rd, 1953. He attended The Ohio State University, graduated with a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering and was certified as a Professional Engineer in 1961. Philip was truly blessed, having met and married the love of his life, Gloria Teresa Zide in Marietta, Ohio in August 1959. They recently celebrated 61 loving years of marriage. Together they started a consulting engineering firm, Philp E. Absi & Associates which they managed for over 45 years. They also created A-Z Investment Properties, a commercial and residential property business - both in Columbus, Ohio. He was a member of and served as President of the local American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). He was a founding and dedicated member of Holy Resurrection Melkite Catholic Church. He was a pillar in the church community, a guiding light and benefactor to many. Philip was a long-standing member of Saint Jude’s Research Hospital. He became a US citizen, epitomizing the American dream and ideals. He deeply loved his adopted country. A beloved father to his children: Anthony (Tami), John (Gayle), Mary Elizabeth (Jeffrey Dudick) and Adele Dodge (Ronald), grandchildren: Joshua, Danielle, Jacqueline, Leilah and Benjamin. Great grandchildren: Nora, Elias and Annabelle. And countless true and valued friends who were considered family, not to mention many dogs, cats and horses. Phil loved to read, spending much of his time on history, historical biographies and geography books. He was known for his encyclopedic and later “google like” knowledge of history and geography. In the summer, he was often seen riding his beloved “go-go” tractor. He loved soccer and was an avid Columbus Crew fan, going to as many of their matches as possible. One highlight for him in 2020 was the Columbus Crew winning the National Major League Soccer Championship. Philip was diagnosed with and bravely battled Parkinsons disease for nine years. Our family would like to give heartfelt thanks to David Zid, Jackie Russell and the “Delay the Disease” program for all the love, inspiration and care shown Philip. He attributed much of his success and continued mobility to David, Jackie and the program. He loved his wife and treasured his children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. He was the best husband, Dad, Jeudo aka “Go-Go”, uncle, brother, brother-in-law, father-in-law and friend. He was so kind, generous and gentle with everyone. Well known for his infectious laughter. Many referred to him as the sweetest, gentlest of all men. To know Philip was a true blessing; heaven’s gain is our loss. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Holy Resurrection Catholic Church, 4611 Glenmawr Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43224 or Delay the Disease fund at The Columbus Foundation. A liturgy and celebration of Philip’s life will be held on Friday, January 22nd at 11:00 am at Saint John Chrysostom Church, 5858 Cleveland Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43231. Masks and social distancing are required. A grave side ceremony will be held on Saturday, January 23rd at noon at Saint Mary’s Catholic new cemetery in Marietta, Ohio. Eulogy for Philip Absi is shared below: Dad’s Eulogy On behalf of mom, Tony, John, Adele and myself, we are grateful to everyone for joining us today to celebrate an incredible life. We want to thank everyone for your kind words, food delivered to the house, calls, texts messages, emails, thoughts and prayers. Each one helps the healing process and is greatly appreciated. Dad was the epitome of the American dream. He came to the US to go to The Ohio State University studying engineering. He graduated with a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering and got his Professional Engineer certification. He lived by a few simple rules: • Always do the right thing • Be true to your values • Have a strong faith in God, Community and Country. He met his one, true, lifelong love in Marietta, Ohio when she launched herself from across the room to give him a kiss. I’m sure he really hated that. Mom and dad were happily married for 61 years. Dad the introvert, balanced by mom the extreme extrovert. Dad was the undisputed King of Backgammon. When dad was courting mom, dad always lost to his future father-in-law. Interestingly, once they married, dad’s backgammon skills improved dramatically; he would consistently win. Much to our Jeudo’s consternation, as he hated to lose. Dad was also the world’s best hummus maker. Ken Cooke threatened to take some of dad’s hummus to his company, reverse engineer the recipe and sell it. Our lives were filled with Christmas trees from the “sequoia section”, Saint Bernards that evolved into real horses, a home filled with music, laughter and the example of mutual respect, kindness and love. All of our lives are far more beautiful and happier because of the love and respect they shared. As someone told me this week, “there was never a kinder, sweeter man.” When attending a wedding, an overzealous, mischievous groom – John, smashed cake in the bride’s face. Dad gallantly stepped up, pulled out his cloth handkerchief and gently wiped Gayle’s face. He surprised me on one of my “zero” birthdays and I’m not saying which one, taking the bus overnight from Columbus to Binghamton, NY to join us, surprising mom, Jeff and me. Dad was our best Valentine. He not only got a card, flowers and chocolate for mom, he also got a card, flowers and chocolate for Adele and me. He was active in our lives, participating in cub scouts, boy scouts and pinewood derbies. He saved a group of us campfire girls when our camping trip was literally under water. He arrived in the middle of the night with food and saved us from flooded sleeping bags. He helped finish science projects, insisting on perfect lettering on our science project boards. Of course, these were completed in the middle of the night, which worked out well as he was a natural night owl. He supported us at horse shows in all kinds of weather when he probably would have preferred watching soccer or football. At horse shows he notoriously filmed the ground far more often than our rides. Dad was a real saint; he attended every show for 12 years of mom’s ‘Yuletide Revels in Merrie England’ at Ohio Dominican College. Not to mention attending all of mom’s tap-dancing shows. But don’t be misled, dad had his ornery side too. One of his favorite holidays was April Fools Day. One April Fool’s day, before they were married, dad told mom that he was being sent back to the old country. He had her going for an entire day before fessing up that it was a joke. Dad welcomed grandchildren whether they came to him as new borns, young adults or our friends’ children. He was Jeudo to them all. We didn’t realize it as children, but only later as adults came to understand that we not only had the best dad, but the best role model too. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” Luckily dad got the happy part too. A few things dad life’s added to Emerson’s thoughts: 1. He added being a great son, brother, husband, brother-in-law, father, uncle, father-in-law and jeudo. Dad excelled in all these roles. After his faith in God, he loved his family and friends most of all. When we gathered together with our Aunts, Uncles and cousins, the adults would put all 13 of us to bed scattered across two bedrooms on the second floor. Somehow, they thought this was a recipe for 13 kids under the age of 13 to sleep. Now, I’m the last one to suggest I know anything about kids. Yet, even with my nonexistent knowledge of children, that doesn’t quite add up to a whole lot of sleep. Inevitably, after we’d been too loud, for too long, Uncle Gabe, Uncle Bob or dad would come upstairs to try to make us settle down and sleep. We kids always hoped they would send dad, as he could rarely be stern or strict for even a little while. Our Tata always said he needed to develop a “mean face”; that’s one thing dad never accomplished. 2. In addition to Emerson’s philosophy of compassion, dad added kindness, generosity, gentleness, humility and commitment. Sprinkled with a big helping of humor. With dad it generally wasn’t the content of the joke that was funny. As witnessed in his infamous “football joke”. The humorous part wasn’t in the punch line; rather it was watching and listening to dad tell the joke. He couldn’t get through that one without laughing to the point of tears. It was far funnier to listen to dad telling the joke as the humor lie in dad’s sheer giddiness and giggles telling the joke. To Emerson’s honorable, dad added honest, true to his word and unwavering faith. Dad was a founding father and pillar of Holy Resurrection Church. His faith preached in his words, but far more demonstrated in his actions. Dad quietly and bravely battled Parkinson’s for 9 years. Faithfully going to bootcamp workout classes and even a literal bootcamp in Boulder, Colorado. The ‘Delay the Disease’ program led by David Zid and Jackie Russell added valuable and active years to dad’s life. In terms of “useful” dad and mom contributed to their community by building a consulting engineering business and a residential and commercial property management business. Which is still running today. He was highly intelligent, possessed a keen memory, was an avid reader with an encyclopedic knowledge of history and geography. He was also an ardent and devoted Columbus Crew Soccer fan. He loved attending home games, but wouldn’t let us buy him season tickets. Instead, he preferred bartering for a ticket from a scalper near the gate. For him, one highlight of 2020 was the Columbus Crew winning the National MLS Championship. It’s been said that love is the best gift you can give. It’s definitely the best present dad gave to all of his family and friends; friends being the family we choose. Just like dad, we spent Sunday night laughing, retelling stories and enjoying each other’s company before he quietly went to be with our Lord. We remember Philip for his infectious laughter, quick wit, gentleness, sense of humor, kindness, charm, humility, dignity and all-encompassing love. It’s been said that, true love touches our life and makes it more beautiful than we could imagine. This was dad’s gift to each of us. True to Emerson’s words, Dad made all the difference by living and living well. He took Emerson’s thoughts a few steps further by quietly teaching each of us how to live well. In the past few days, many dear friends have shared, “The lord called home his sweetest, kindest, gentlest, most loving angel.” Heaven’s gain is certainly our biggest loss. Lastly mom wants everyone to know, once it’s safe to gather, we will be hosting a liturgy and a mercy meal celebrating dad’s life.