Elias Youssef Bou-ghazale

Elias Youssef Bou-ghazale, 102, of Charlotte, passed away peacefully on Saturday, February 15, 2025.

Elias was born on August 1, 1922 In Lebanon. He was a cherished son of the late Youssef Bou-ghazale and Neffaji Abboud Bou-ghazale. In addition to his parents he was preceded in death by his first wife Georgette Khoury.

A gifted poet, Elias wrote 18 published books, capturing the beauty of the world. His writing continues to inspire and will remain a lasting part of his legacy.

In addition to his literary accomplishments, Elias was a skilled Mason whose hands helped shape the very foundations of his community. He was deeply involved in the construction of three churches, each one a testament to his craftsmanship and commitment. He also played a significant role in the construction of the sea wall in Lebanon, ensuring that future generations would benefit from his work. His contributions to construction extended far beyond these projects, and his work will be remembered.

Elias was known for his generosity and was always eager to help others. His selflessness and giving nature were a hallmark of his character and will be missed by all who knew him.

Those left to cherish his memory include his wife, Leila Ajram Bou-ghazale; children, Simon (Maha) Bou-ghazale, Sonia (William) Abboud, Suha (Steve) Brattain, Samar (Grace) Bou-ghazale, Srory (Kathy) Bou-ghazale, Soleil (Elias) Sarji, Silvio (Marleine) Bou-ghazale, Sahar (Nour) Toukmaji; grandchildren, Sara, Rania, Samar, Raina, Georgina, Diala, Tarek, Lauren, Justin, Sandy, Michael, Carine, Celine, Claire, Christopher and Patrick.

Funeral Service will be held at 2:00pm Monday February 17, 2025 at Saint Stephen Maronite Catholic Church in Waxhaw. Interment will immediately follow at Carolina Memorial Park in Harrisburg.

Eulogy 

From a humble beginning, from a village in southern Lebanon, a smart kid emerged with near supernatural intelligence. His reputation preceded him, from village to village to the point where puzzles making their rounds would be sent to the wizard in Bnafoul, a mere 9 year-old kid, who would solve and send them back on regular occurrences. By age 12, he created a modern-based mechanical clock with gears he carved from limestone that he operated by regulated water flow. By age 17, he was a mason who built homes with roman and byzantine arches that stood sturdy with ironclad construction without mortar. 

He married by age 25 and started his family. A wonderful story that resembled the American classic “it’s a wonderful life” would be recounted proudly to us, his kids, how friends from villages near and not so near, when they heard he was getting married, started sending advanced payments for future construction projects, flushing him with money, a testament to the trust in his character.

Our dad, Elias Bou-Ghazale, built 3 churches with his own hands, outbidding all contenders by less than half the lowest bid, to ensure he built those churches at cost, including gifts to those churches at the end of the projects. Labor ministers and government officials would honour him but he drew his satisfaction from his deep devotion to his work and spiritual dedication to his family and creator.

Dad moved to the capital, Beirut, and became a successful entrepreneur in construction and real estate, while he kept composing poetry throughout his life. He published over 18 poetry books throughout his life, carrying a highly intellectual tone, covering philosophy, spirituality, righteousness, patriotism, social harmony, the afterlife, social consciousness, as well as descriptive poetry giving animals, trees and things feelings and thoughts that scolded humans for their unappreciative and greedy ways towards nature and towards one another.

By his 50’s, he took a big step forward, yet again, this time by uprooting his family from war-torn Lebanon and emigrating to the United States of America. Seven of his eight kids, with the exception of the eldest son who decided to stay in Lebanon with his family, ended up in America, all with successful businesses and thriving corporate career professions in engineering and the high-technology industries.

Above all, our Dad, Elias Bou-Ghazale, raised us, his kids, as devout human beings, filled with humility and appreciation for one another and the rest of the world around us. His wise words, even though were rarely spoken, were reinforced back to us through regular recitation of his poetry at family gatherings. Our dad endured unthinkable traumas in his life, the biggest of which was the sudden death of his wife, our mother, at age 38, in a horrible car accident that widowed him with 8 kids, ranging from the age of 2 to 22 years. A few years later, Dad remarried an angel on earth, who picked up the pieces and carried the torch forward with a harmonious relationship with him, with God, and all his eight children, as her own, until his last day on earth, around 4AM on February 15, 2025, in what appeared to be the most peaceful death, imaginable. This closes a chapter for our family, showing us how peaceful death can be, in stark contrast to the catastrophic car accident in 1970 that took the life of our mother, my uncle and my uncle’s wife in an apocalyptic shock that reverberated to the entire small country of Lebanon and left everyone of his kids, badly shattered and scarred for life. Our Dad completed his journey, by gifting us the much needed final closure of that incidence- at the time of his death, each of us telling our own personal stories to one another for the first time in 55 years, crying, with occasional sudden short weeps, and most of all healing all of our collective scars, finishing our session wiping off tears once and for-all, ending our scarred suffering of 5 and a half decades. As he so wonderfully accomplished his mission, he transitioned so peacefully into the heavens.