+ George Al Hayek, +
Biographical Info
George B. Al Hayek, 26, the youngest of five sons of Bassam and Hiam Al Hayek, was a private security officer who was shot to death on August 24, 2010 during an altercation with a group of people in an alley outside an east Spokane apartment complex. The fatal confrontation occurred as Al Hayek patrolled a nearby building campus. George, a married father of a young girl, (8 years old at the time of his death) earned a law degree from a Jerusalem university and moved to the Washington, D.C. area in 2006 from his family’s home in Beit Sahour. He had married a Palestinian American girl whom he met when she visited Bethlehem. He joined his family in Spokane in May of 2010 as he wanted to be closer to his parents, brothers and sisters.. He planned to save money to move his wife, Summer, and daughter, Natalia, to Spokane. Family and friends described George as quiet, polite and meticulous. He took his Greek Orthodox faith and its sacred traditions very seriously, wore a cross, went to church, and knew the history of his land (Palestine) from beginning to end. He wore a Christian countenance too, was kind to everyone, shy, unassuming, generous, never judgmental, and always a willing helper. George B. Al Hayek has been laid to rest in the St. John the Baptist Orthodox Church Cemetery. He is survived by his mother, father, four brothers, two sisters, wife and daughter.
O God of spirits and of all flesh, Who hast trampled down death and overthrown the Devil, and given life to Thy world, do Thou, the same Lord, give rest to the souls of Thy departed servants [names] in a place of brightness, a place of refreshment, a place of repose, where all sickness, sighing, and sorrow have fled away. Pardon every transgression which they have committed, whether by word or deed or thought. For Thou art a good God and lovest mankind; because there is no man who lives yet does not sin, for Thou only art without sin, Thy righteousness is to all eternity, and Thy word is truth.
For Thou are the Resurrection, the Life, and the Repose of Thy servants [names], O Christ our God, and unto Thee we ascribe glory, together with Thy Father, who is from everlasting, and Thine all-holy, good, and life-creating Spirit, now and ever unto ages of ages. Amen.
