In Remembrance of Dr. George Giacumakis
Song For Israel mourns the passing of friend and former Board member, Dr. George Giacumakis, on April 7th. Dr. Giacumakis was Director Emeritus of the California State University Fullerton – Irvine Campus and Professor of History at Cal State Fullerton. He was also Adjunct Professor of History at Biola University. He founded the Museum of Biblical and Sacred Writings at Biola and HistoryOnTheMove Study Tours to Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
George was very involved with Song For Israel from its inception. He was among those who signed our incorporation papers. Dr. Giacumakis partnered with Song For Israel with conferences and Israel tours. George regularly participated in our bi-monthly prayer meetings for Song For Israel and for Israel.
He and his wife, Joan, along with their four children, lived in Jerusalem from 1979 to 1984 while he was President and Executive Director of the American Institute of Holy Land Studies (now called the Jerusalem University College) on Mt. Zion. Each week he joined Christian leaders from various Jerusalem based organizations at the King David Hotel for breakfast and prayer. It was that prayer group that came up with the idea of starting an organization to show Christian support for the modern state of Israel. Thus, in 1980, when the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) was born, Dr. Giacumakis became the founding Chairman of the Board and served as such until 2004 after which he continued to serve as Chairman of the ICEJ’s USA Board until his death.
Dr. Giacumakis’ love for Israel and the Jewish people went back to when he was a college student studying Hebrew and Greek. The newborn state of Israel was only ten years old at the time and was the subject of much attention amongst his fellow Bible students. When awarded a scholarship by Brandeis University, he studied at the largely Jewish school and earned both a Master’s and a Ph.D. degree in Mediterranean Studies (Near East and Islamic Studies).
George is considered a mentor, prayer partner and friend. He will be greatly missed.