MUSSALLEM, Peter
Born July 6, 1916. Passed away peacefully at home, attended by his wife and son, on January 6, 2010 at the age of 93. He is predeceased by his son Paul, his parents Solomon and Annie, his brothers Nick and George and his sister Mary. He is lovingly survived by his wife of 63 years Marian, his son Matthew, his sisters Helen Mussallem and Lily Harper and many nieces and nephews. Peter was born in Prince Rupert, the son of Lebanese immigrants but grew up in Maple Ridge. He began working fulltime in his father,s garage at age 15: eventually his family was able to save enough money to enroll him at UBC in the Applied Sciences program. He graduated as a chemical engineer and began working at Imperial Oil in the research department, receiving two patents for his work there. Peter continued working at Imperial Oil both in research and as a technical expert until his retirement in 1981. He was also active in encouraging young people to become Engineers, helping to create the "Future Engineers and Applied Scientists" program for high school students, as well helping to set up, and working on, the supervisory board of the BCIT Chemical Technology program. In addition, the Society of Automotive Engineers created the "Peter Mussallem Scholarship" in the Trades and Technology program at Vancouver Community College. After his retirement from Imperial Oil, Peter worked as a consultant, mainly as an expert technical witness in legal cases. Also, for many years he worked for the Registration committee for the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of BC, as well as acting as the Secretary/Treasurer of Camp 5 for the Iron Ring ceremony. In his late eighties Peter began writing poetry (mainly sonnets) which he self-published in a volume entitled "Inside Out".
A memorial service for Peter will be held on Saturday, January 16, 2010 at 2:00 p.m. at Steveston United Church in Richmond, at 3720 Broadway St, Richmond, B.C. In lieu of flowers, donations to your favourite charity would be appreciated.