An Extraordinary Life: Joliet anesthesiologist was 'intense, ambitious and goal-oriented'

JOLIET – After Dr. Amin Khater of Joliet graduated from medical school in Austria, he returned home to Damascus, Syria, to check out the medical facilities.

It was at one such facility that he first met the woman he would marry: Dr. Hazami Farhat.

“I noticed she was honest, very highly educated and very smart,” Amin said. “So I asked her if I could come by and meet her family.”

Hazami agreed, as her father also was a doctor. So Amin called on the family, and they discussed medicine. However, Hazami drilled Amin about his knowledge and skill, trying to discern whether he was “the real thing” and eventually decided he was.

But when Amin proposed, he said it with flowers instead of words, a watercolor of roses he painted for the occasion.

“She accepted,” Amin said. “And the picture came with us when we went to Canada and the United States. And now it’s in the casket.”

Eventually, Hazami would become a member of the American Medical Association and the American Society of Anesthesiologists. For three years she would serve as chair of the anesthesiology department at the hospital now known as Presence Saint Joseph Medical Center.

But she and Amin would overcome some challenges before that happened.

The Khaters left Syria shortly after their marriage on March 24, 1963, and spent a week in Vienna. From there, they traveled to Canada, where Amin approached Santa Cabrini Hospital in Montreal for a job.

“The chairman was German,” Amin said. “When he looked at my degrees and honors, he looked at my wife and said, ‘He’s hired, but we don’t hire female doctors.’ He told her not to worry. She could work at McGill University with his wife. I did general surgery, and she did chest medicine.”

The goal was to eventually come to the U.S., Amin said. But they had to wait a couple years before they were accepted into the country, Amin said.

Why the U.S.?

“Because it’s the best country in the world,” Amin said. “It’s more advanced and has more highly educated people.”

The Khaters first worked at Cook County Hospital, Amin in OB/GYN and Hazami in anesthesiology. Amin and Hazami came to Joliet in December 1968 to build their career and raise their family.

They had three children – Dr. Timothy Khater of Texas, an ophthalmologist; Dr. Russell Khater of Joliet, an OB/GYN; and Dr. Kevin Khater of Chicago, a radiation oncologist.

Russell summed up his mother’s career like this: “She was responsible for keeping people alive.”

Although Hazami had a friendly rapport with people, she also was “tough and tenacious.” She’d “stick to her guns” when she was right and wanted proof she was wrong before changing her mind. “She was “intense, ambitious and goal-oriented.”

“She was nobody’s fool,” Russell said.

But then, Hazami came from an unaccommodating situation. It was either “be rigid or break,” Russell said. There was little “margin of error” when she and Amin fled Syria and entered Canada.

“Money was tight. They had no one to count on,” Russell said. “If the money ran out, they didn’t have relatives. There was no one they could crash with, spend a weekend with. They were always one step away from living in a refrigerator box in an alley. ...They had no idea what tomorrow would hold. They were living day to day. They learned the language while trying to get by. There was no one they could call if they had a problem. If he broke a leg, there was no insurance, nothing.”

From the situation, Hazami learned not to trust fate and not to rely on anyone, Russell said.

“She was as much in control as was humanly possible,” Russell said. “To be ready for things when they happen, that’s who she was. ... She had a lot of joy in security.”

Those traits, Russell said, also made her an excellent anesthesiologist.

Nevertheless, even after Amin and Hazami were financially secure, she avoided spending money on herself, Amin said. She put her children and patients first. Hazami was 79 when she died March 10.

And Amin misses her terribly.

“Fifty-three years I loved her. That’s all I can say,” Amin said. “When we slept, I held her hand and she held my hand.”

• To feature someone in “An Extraordinary Life,” contact Denise M. Baran-Unland at 815-280-4122 or dunland@shawmedia.com.