Suhail Joseph "Sal" Ghandour

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Thursday, February 27, 2020 at 1:30 pm in the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Lafayette, for Suhail Joseph "Sal" Ghandour, age 72, who passed away Tuesday evening, February 18, 2020 at his residence in Lafayette with his loving wife and friends at his side. Interment will be in Evangeline Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Carencro. Reverend Chester Arceneaux will conduct the funeral services. Survivors include his beloved wife of 47 years, Madeline Brock Ghandour; one sister, Gloria Theodossi; two brothers, Samir Ghandour and Nabil Ghandour; and several nieces and nephews. Suhail was preceded in death by his parents, Joseph George Ghandour and Claire Bassil Ghandour; one sister, Siham Ghandour Sharaiha; and one brother, George Joseph Ghandour. Suhail was born in Jerusalem. He lived in Amman, Jordan where he graduated from Terra Sancta High School. He came to Lafayette, LA, to attend UL, where he majored in Chemical Engineering and graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle, with a Bachelor Degree in Chemical Engineering. He carried 21 semester hours, worked eight hours a day, six days a week to pay for his education. Suhail came to the United States of America as an immigrant with only hope in his heart and determination in hand. He became a citizen and married the love of his life, Madeline. Suhail started his engineering career at DuPont de Nemours in East Texas as a Project Manager. Throughout his career, Suhail worked at Temple Eastex Paper Mill, Georgia Gulf and as a consultant at Dow Chemical. Suhail retired from Englobal, a Consulting firm. He later went back to work as a consultant where he finished his career at a Refinery in Krotz Springs, LA in 2016. Suhail was known as "The Can Do Man"! He would accept any challenge no matter how difficult and get the job done! He was a problem solver and a perfectionist throughout his career. He was well known in the Petro Chemical Industry. Suhail advised and helped young engineers find jobs to start their careers. Suhail worked with his hands! He could build, repair and do all types of projects at home and often helped his neighbors with their difficulties. He loved to garden. He was featured in the Baton Rouge Advocate Newspaper for his design of a Coy Pond Garden with a waterfall, flowing stream, tropical flowers and statuary at his home in Baton Rouge. He took pride in his vegetable garden and shared the produce with his neighbors, friends and passersby. He would send them home with a cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli or a basket of tomatoes. Suhail's joy was to create beautiful surroundings. He would sow wildflower seeds in the fall and waited for spring to come to marvel at the surprise showing of so many beautiful flowers. Neighbors would stop with their children to take pictures and they would go home with a flower in hand. Suhail also enjoyed cooking and baking. From his Lebanese heritage he would make his signature dishes, BAKLAVA, HUMMUS and FIG COOKIES! He and his wife, Madeline, were featured in the Baton Rouge Food Section, for their delicious recipes with a Cajun twist, blending the two cuisines to bring out the best of both. Suhail and Madeline traveled throughout the United States visiting many historical places. They went on a seven thousand mile road trip west that took a month to complete. They drove to Ottawa, Canada via New York City and Boston, on another adventure. Europe, Italy, the Holy Land, Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt were visited on overseas trips. Suhail was a man of many talents and shared his skills with co-workers, friends and family. He was a "Renaissance Man", a "Can Do Man", an extraordinary man, who was named after a star! You can find SUHAIL in the southern constellation of VELA, one of the brighter stars in the night sky. Suhail will be dearly missed by family and friends who loved him. The family requests that visitation be observed in Martin & Castille's DOWNTOWN location on Wednesday from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm and on Thursday from 11:00 am until time of service. A Rosary will be prayed Wednesday at 6:00 pm in the funeral home. Memorial contributions can be made in Suhail's name to M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, P. O. Box 4461, Houston, Texas 77210-4461. A heartfelt appreciation is extended by the Ghandour family to the doctors and staff at M.D. Anderson, Houston, Texas, the Cancer Center of Acadiana, and all the friends who loved Suhail. View the obituary and guestbook online at www.mourning.com. Martin & Castille-DOWNTOWN, 330 St. Landry St., Lafayette, LA 70506, 337-234-2311.