Badie Girgis

1922 - 2017

Badie Y. Girgis

September 27, 1922 - October 23, 2017

Badie Y. Girgis, devoted husband and father, good friend and trusted colleague to many, died peacefully at Mission House in San Mateo, with his family at his side. He is survived by his wife Teresa, son Michael of Richmond, CA, daughter Caroline of Belmont, CA, his sister Renee Yacoub Nashed of Cairo, Egypt, many nieces and nephews, and grand-nieces and grand-nephews. He was preceded in death by his father Yacoub Girgis, his mother Asma Mishriqi, brothers Makram and Alexan Yacoub, and sisters Madeleine Yacoub Ghobrial and Awatef Yacoub Matta.

Badie was born in Cairo, Egypt, in 1922, and spent his youth in Cairo and Alexandria. A precocious student, he graduated from Cairo University with a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering in 1943 at the age of 20. He began his career in engineering and management shortly thereafter with the Shell Oil Company of Egypt, receiving additional training with Shell in the U.K. and Holland. Following the Egyptian Revolution in 1956, Shell was renamed the Egyptian Petroleum Authority. It was during his time at the Petroleum Authority that he met his future wife, Teresa, the granddaughter of Italian immigrants to Egypt.

A business trip to the United States in 1966 served as the impetus for his decision to emigrate to the U.S., to seek freedom and a better life for his children. The family settled in San Mateo in 1968, and Badie began a second career with Bechtel Corporation in San Francisco. His assignments with Bechtel took him to destinations throughout the U.S., and around the world, including Algeria, Indonesia, Venezuela, Iraq, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, where his signal achievement was oversight for the design, engineering, and construction of the port of Jubail Industrial City, a complete city with supporting infrastructure built by the government of Saudi Arabia. He retired from Bechtel in 1993.

Along with several Egyptian immigrant families, Badie was a founding member of St. Antonius Coptic Orthodox Church in Hayward, the first Coptic Orthodox church established in the San Francisco Bay Area. His faith was of paramount importance, and sustained him throughout his life. He was a man of uncommon integrity, intelligence, and wisdom, and made an impact on all who knew him.

Friends and family are invited to a funeral mass on Monday, October 30, 2017, at 11am at St. Bartholomew Church in San Mateo. Interment at Skylawn Memorial Park.

The family wishes to extend its deepest thanks to the entire team at Mission Hospice and Home Care, whose compassionate and skillful care for Badie helped us to navigate the final chapter of his life.

In lieu of flowers please consider a gift in Badie's memory to Mission Hospice and Home Care, or to the Second Harvest Food Bank.