Saudi immigrant loved the trees and gardens of his adopted country. Established the Hejaz Tree Conservation Fund at The Trust.
Abdel Hamid Afghani (1933-2002)
Abdel Hamid Afghani was born and raised in the desert in Saudi Arabia. After moving to the United States, he fell in love with trees.
Abdel was born August 8, 1933, in Medina, Saudi Arabia, to Abdel R. Afghani and his wife, Fatma. He moved to the United States as a young man, married and divorced twice, and had a son, Charles Barry Afghani, in 1963.
“It’s an interesting story,” said, his long-time friend and executor, James Sauter, an attorney with O’Neill, DiManno & Kelly in Manhattan. Abdel came to the United States from Saudi Arabia in the late 1950s or early 1960s.
Initially, Abdel wanted to be a farmer, his attorney explained, so he went to Pennsylvania and tried his hand at it. He soon found out farming was much harder than it seemed, so he went back to school and got his degree in accounting. He lived on Staten Island for many years and worked as a fiduciary accountant for Bankers Trust Co. from 1968 to 1995, before it was taken over by Deutsche Bank.
Abdel’s early interest in agriculture sparked a life-long love of nature. “He was in awe of the green spaces in the United States after being born and raised in Saudi Arabia,” his executor said. “He wanted to ensure that green spaces would continue to thrive in urban areas such as New York City.”
Abdel’s legacy planning called for the establishment of the Hejaz Tree Conservation Fund in The New York Community Trust. It is named for the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia that includes both Mecca and Abdel’s birthplace, Medina. The fund is used for the conservation, preservation, and promotion of trees and also of shrubs, gardens, and other plant life in urban and rural areas, with consideration of national projects from time to time.
Abdel’s bequest has supported parks, conservancies, and environmental organizations across the city, such as Bronx Is Blooming, Van Cortlandt Park Alliance, Riverside Park Conservancy, Grow NYC, Natural Areas Conservancy, and the Bronx River Alliance.
Abdel died in 2002 at age 68. A true lover of nature, he asked that his ashes be released to the wind or a body of water, whichever was more convenient.