Georges Elias Najjar
Premium memorialLovingly known as “Abou Elias”
19 July 1966 — 30 August 2024 · aged 58
Emirates engineer, Beirut-born Dubai resident and host who fed every new hire
Dubai, United Arab Emirates Born in Beirut, Lebanon Resting at Family plot, Bhamdoun, Mount LebanonAbout Georges
Georges Najjar landed in Dubai in the summer of 1989 with one suitcase, an engineering degree from the American University of Beirut and a note in his father's handwriting that said only, 'Work honestly, eat properly, call on Sundays.' He obeyed all three for thirty-five years. Born in Beirut in 1966, the son of an engineering professor, he had spent his teenage years studying by candlelight during the civil war, and he often said that anything built in Dubai afterwards felt, by comparison, almost miraculously easy.
He joined Emirates in 1991 as an aircraft maintenance engineer, when the airline was not yet seven years old, and rose over three decades to Senior Manager in Engineering Planning, a quiet specialist whose spreadsheets kept hundreds of flights on time. He was known across the hangars for two things: his refusal to sign off an unsafe job, and the long table in his Jumeirah apartment where every new engineer, whether Indian, Filipino, Egyptian or Irish, was invited for a first Lebanese meal. He mentored young engineers from a dozen countries and kept a framed photograph of every team he had ever led.
He met Carla, a nurse from Zahlé, at a church fundraiser in Dubai in 1995 and married her a year later. They raised two children, Elias and Maya, in a home that smelled of grilled lamb and cardamom coffee, and he never missed a school recital. When his father died in Beirut in June 2020, with the borders closed, he watched the funeral on a livestream in his Dubai living room, and said afterwards that it was the longest hour of his life. Georges died on 30 August 2024, aged fifty-eight, after a brief illness, and was laid to rest beside his father in Bhamdoun. He leaves Carla, Elias, Maya and his sister Rima, as well as colleagues in forty countries who call him family.
“Come and eat. The problem will still be here afterwards, and it will be smaller.”
- Faith
- Christian
- Place of birth
- Beirut, Lebanon
- Resting place
- Family plot, Bhamdoun, Mount Lebanon
- Passed away
- 30 August 2024, Dubai
Memorial Service
Wednesday, 4 September 2024 at 10:00 UTC
Add to calendarMemorial fund
Georges Najjar Family Support Fund
Help Carla and the children with Elias's university fees and Maya's final school years.
$4,398.50 raised of $12,000
37%20 recent contributions
- KO
Katie O'Neill gave $47.50 · 1y ago
“In honour of a wonderful woman.”
- DM
Dumisani Moyo gave $47.50 · 1y ago
“God comfort you all.”
- KO
Katie O'Neill gave $19 · 1y ago
- KO
Katie O'Neill gave $47.50 · 1y ago
“From the church choir.”
- BO
Brian Oduor gave $190 · 1y ago
“With love from the diaspora.”
Life journey
B.E. in Mechanical Engineering
American University of Beirut1984 – 1989 · Beirut
Studied through the last years of the civil war, often by candlelight.
Maintenance Engineer
Dubai Aluminium (DUBAL)1989 – 1991 · Dubai
His first job in the Gulf, learning heavy plant maintenance.
Aircraft Maintenance Engineer to Senior Manager, Engineering Planning
Emirates1991 – 2024 · Dubai
Thirty-three years keeping Emirates aircraft safe and on schedule.
Married Carla
1996 · Dubai
A marriage of twenty-eight years.
Mentor, graduate engineer programme
Emirates Engineering2005 – 2024 · Dubai
Mentored young engineers from a dozen countries and fed every one of them.
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Family & connections
Also remembered on Evermore
Georges is survived by
- Carla Najjar· Spouse
- Elias Najjar· Son
- Maya Najjar· Daughter
- Rima Najjar-Haddad· Sister
Tributes & memories
6 people have shared a memory of Georges.
Knew Georges? Share a memory with the family and everyone who loved them.
Sign in to write a tribute- KO
Irish engineer, Dubai 2012–2019
I arrived from Cork in 2012 knowing nobody. Georges gave me the keys to his guest room for a month. He said every engineer is homeless until someone lends a key. When I left, I tried to return it and he said, 'Keep it for the next one.'
- RN
Sister
Georges watched Baba's funeral from Dubai because the airport was closed. Afterwards he told me that he got through it by looking at the pine trees behind the church on the screen. Now I stand in Bhamdoun where both of them lie, among those same pines.
- JS
Maintenance technician from Cebu
In my first week in Dubai, Mr Georges drove me to the Gold Souk to buy a gift for my mother and refused to let me pay for his coffee. He said, 'Family eats first.' I have been in his family for fourteen years.
- SH
Brother-in-law and childhood friend in Beirut
We shared a cellar in 1984, a deck of cards and a transistor radio. Georges invented a game called 'Who makes the ceiling shake least,' and always lost on purpose. He was a gentle boy who became a gentle man. Beirut still hums with his laugh.
- AM
Emirati colleague, Emirates Engineering
In 2004 he invited me, a nervous new engineer, to his home. He cooked, I washed up, and we spoke about everything but work. He taught me that an engineer is only as good as his table. I host my own team the same way now.
- SM
Colleague from Kerala
He never signed off an aircraft with a doubt. Once he grounded a flight five minutes before departure and took the heat from the schedulers himself. The captain later sent him a thank-you note. His initials are still on a great many checklists.
