Obituary of Raafat Kammel

Raafat Kammel of Peabody, MA was the beloved husband of Sonya, devoted father of Christina and Mark, father-in-law of Dan and Carolina and grand“paw”rent of family dogs Rugby, Nova and Luli. Raafat was born in El-Menia, Egypt to Kammel Abdelsayed and Zakia Shenouda. He was one of seven children: Refaat, Ragaa, Raouf (dec.), Rashid, Raifa and Regina. Raafat was an academic star from a young age. He was known to tutor his siblings rather than study his own coursework, and yet, was still at the top of his class. He went on to study aeronautical engineering at the Cairo University and scored so highly that he was not matched by another student for over five years. Raafat taught as a professor at Cairo University for several years before moving on to earn his master’s degree in engineering from the University of Toronto. On a visit back to Egypt, Raafat met Sonya at a church youth gathering. They climbed Mount Sinai together and never left each other’s side again. They wed in Egypt before returning to the United States and finally settling down in the Boston area with their two children. Raafat continued his work as an aviation engineer at General Electric for over 40 years but had many other interests. He was a published author of a wide range of works, including politics, economics, religion, science and poetry. He studied zoology, paleontology and astrophysics in his spare time; he enjoyed travelling with his wife, playing hide and seek with his children, eating catfish fajitas, drinking endless cups of tea, going to church with his family and searching for the perfect mango. He was known for being a man of few but wise words and when he laughed, you knew something was truly funny. Raafat passed away at home surrounded by his family after a courageous battle with Multiple System Atrophy. He leaves his family rich in memories and love. Please consider making a donation in Raafat’s name to the Multiple System Atrophy Coalition. https://www.multiplesystematrophy.org/donate-now