Richard K. Abrahams

Richard K. Abrahams

Richard K. Abrahams of Emerald Bay was born May 23, 1925, in New York City to Samuel K. Abrahams and Rebecca Greenberg Abrahams. He passed away Aug. 1, 2011, in Tyler.

A memorial service will be held at Emerald Bay Community Church at a time and date to be announced. Richard was a graduate of Harvard College and Columbia Law School.

After graduation from Columbia, he joined The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, where he served as a staff attorney for 32 years, working primarily on general corporate law and on commercial construction contracts, including those for the Port Authority's extensive construction projects.

Among them were development of Kennedy airport, a tunnel beneath the Hudson River, the Port Authority Bus Terminal and its several expansions, and the original World Trade Center. For many of those years, he was the attorney in charge of the Contracts Division of the Law Department of the Port Authority.

In retirement, he lived for 21 years in the small town of Warren in rural northwest Connecticut and served actively for most of that time on the Town Board of Selectmen (Town Council). He also represented the town on several regional agencies. Although he was admitted to the Connecticut Bar, his legal work was mostly for the town and for local non-profit organizations. Richard loved music, books and travel, and particularly loved to travel in Europe.

He was predeceased by his parents and his brother, Norbert Abrahams. He is survived by his wife, Billie Jean Cape of Emerald Bay, as well as by several cousins.

Published in Tyler Morning Telegraph on August 4, 2011