BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
George "Doc" Abraham (Cornell Class of 1939) and Katherine "Katy" Mehlenbacher
Abraham (Cornell Class of 1943) married on July 4, 1942, just before Doc shipped out
with Task Force 5889, one of the U.S. Army's first integrated units, to safeguard
Liberia's rubber plantations during World War II. Doc's parents were Lebanese
immigrants. Katy dropped out of Cornell to work as a munitions inspector. She
finished her degree after raising their two children, Leanna and Darryl, and
actually graduated from Cornell in 1969. Katy and Doc operated a commercial
greenhouse and florist shop, offered landscape architectural services, published
nine books on gardening, and worked to extend the reach of their "Green Thumb"
garden column. Doc also wrote "The belles of Shangri-La: and other stories of sex,
snakes, and survival from World War II," published in 2000. Doc died on January 27,
2005 and Katy on May 25, 2005.
