Mr. George Hatem's Obituary
George Hatem, 82, of Pearland, Texas, passed away, Tuesday, November 27, 2012.
George was born on December 5, 1929, in Mountainside, New Jersey, to Shafie and Victoria Hatem. George is survived by his loving wife of 56 years, Patricia; three sons, Mark, Chris, and Kevin with his wife Laura-Beth; three grandchildren, Cole, Grace and Riley; and sisters Mary Barbary and Gloria Hatem.
George graduated from Deland High School in 1949. In 1950 he was drafted by the U.S. Army and served for two years in the Korean conflict era. After his honorable discharge from the military, he moved to Florida to be near his family. Being the electronics genius that he was, he worked in a repair shop fixing televisions and radios. This is where he met Patricia. She walked into the shop with a radio in hand needing repair. George fell in love at first sight. After fixing the radio, George asked Pat out on a date. Their first date was January 14th. They celebrated their first Valentine's together on February 14th. The two became engaged on March 14th and married on July 14th, 1956. Soon George would find himself the father of three sons and at the beginning of a blossoming career with General Electric as a QA Engineer in the Aero Space program in Daytona Beach, Florida. After a few years he was relocated to the GE facility in the NASA complex in Houston, TX. He remained there until he retired (for the first time) in 1987 where he and Pat retreated to Florida to live the quiet life of retirement. Well, that didn't settle in too well and George re-upped with GE for a second go round, this time in Palmdale, California. After 3 more years of being a dedicated working man, he decided that was enough. He retired (again) and they moved back to Pearland, TX, which is where George always considered home. He spent his retirement in happiness, engrossed himself in books of fiction and fact, enjoyed spending time with his wife and sons, and was deeply endeared to his grandchildren.
He was a devoted husband and father whose character was defined by doing the right thing. We love you and we will miss you.
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