- Date Of Birth: December 5, 1930
- Date Of Death: August 27, 2015
- State: Arizona
Hameed, Abdul (“Ab”)
Of Scottsdale, Arizona, passed away peacefully, at age 84, on August 27, 2015. Ab was a beloved husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle and friend. Ab’s wife of fifty-five years, Bonnie, passed away in 2013. Ab is survived by his daughter Bilquis Zubrod (husband Tim) and grandson Nathaniel Zubrod, son Azim (wife Barbara), sisters Tahira Bari and Naima Ahmad, brothers Tariq, Tawfiq, and Farouk and their spouses, and a large extended family. Ab, the fourth oldest of nine children, was born on December 5, 1930, to Abdul and Amtul (Aziz) Hameed in Karachi, Pakistan (which at the time of Ab’s birth was part of pre-Partition British India). Ab completed his undergraduate civil engineering studies in Pakistan. In 1954, Ab came to Chicago, Illinois, to attend Illinois Institute of Technology where he completed his graduate studies for a Master of Science degree in civil engineering. Ab enjoyed cooking Pakistani food to satisfy his craving for a taste of home. Ironically, as a result of sharing his “home” cooking with friends, Ab met a pretty American nursing student named Bonnie that was adventuresome enough to try Pakistani food. Bonnie and Abdul were married on October 31, 1958. As the old saying goes, “The way to a woman’s heart is through her stomach!?” Ab, Bonnie, and while growing-up, their two children, enjoyed eating Ab’s home cooked Pakistani food for dinner every weekend. Professionally, Ab began his engineering career with Armour and Company in Chicago in 1959. Ab managed the planning and construction of complex, state-of-the-art food processing and manufacturing facilities throughout the United States in the 1960s and 1970s. Greyhound Corporation acquired Armour and Company and subsequently moved the corporate headquarters from Chicago to Phoenix, Arizona, in 1971 which caused Ab to move his family from Chicago to Scottsdale. Ab earned the moniker “Rocky” after a particularly “hard dig” during the construction of the new Armour and Company plant in Kansas City in 1972. Ab also worked for Giffels Associates, Inc., a Detroit based architect and engineering firm, in Frankfurt, Germany, for two years. In 1986, Ab started a successful planning, project management, and construction management business, Capital Improvement Associates, Inc. (“CIA”). CIA assisted numerous municipalities and school districts manage the planning and construction of airports, libraries, civic centers, schools, and other facilities throughout Arizona. Ab retired in 1996. Recreationally, Ab was a “Cricketer” — that is Ab excelled at playing Cricket. Ab captained his undergraduate Cricket team, represented the Karachi-Sindh Province team for three years, and played for the Chicago Cricket Club. After moving from Chicago to Scottsdale, Ab took up golf. The Hameed family foursome teed off at Papago golf course around noon every Saturday for years. Sadly, Ab was not as an accomplished golfer as he was Cricketer. Abdul was naturalized as a citizen of the United States of America on August 6, 1963. Ab was proud to be an American, embraced the many opportunities and good people he met in the U.S.A., and remained proud of his Pakistani heritage. Ab’s greatest accomplishments were being a faithful, dedicated husband and a stern, loving father. Ab and Bonnie committed their lives to their children. Ab and Bonnie respected and appreciated other people, including people with backgrounds, nationalities and religious beliefs that varied from their own. They worked long and hard, were honest, prudent and faithful, and stressed the importance of education. Ab and Bonnie lived exemplary lives together and strived to impart those virtues to their children. Abdul Qayyum Hameed was a great man that will be missed by all that knew him.
