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1951
2011
(News article)
Azmat Khan, a Swanton Township businessman and cricket enthusiast who was instrumental in founding the Greater Toledo Cricket Club, died Sunday in Toledo Hospital of a heart attack. He was 60.
The owner of Sunshine Corners Carryout, Mr. Khan became dizzy while playing in a cricket match earlier in the afternoon in Beatty Park near Auburn Avenue and South Cove Boulevard, said Dr. Taimur Butt, a physician in Saudia Arabia and close friend of Mr. Khan.
Dr. Butt, who worked with Mr. Khan to organize the cricket club several years ago and was in Toledo for the weekend, helped several others put Mr. Khan in the back seat of a car and then drove him to the hospital.
"He died playing the game that he had a great passion and love for," he said.
For many years Mr. Khan and his brother Khalif Khan owned and operated convenience stores in Toledo.
The brothers grew up in Karachi, Pakistan, and immigrated in 1980 to the United States, settling initially in Houston, where they owned a construction business.
About 10 years later they arrived in Toledo, purchasing Dairy Mart convenience stores together. His brother said they sold the stores and Azmat bought Sunshine Corners on Waterville-Swanton Road.
Mr. Khan said his brother earned a degree in carpentry and construction from the Swedish Institute of Technology and worked in the construction of a sports stadium in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.
He also said that his brother had been involved locally in cricket -- a game they both played as children in Pakistan, where it is the national pastime -- since moving to Toledo.
He said he was president of the Greater Toledo Cricket Club.
"Since 1989 he has been working to establish Toledo as a competitive cricket area, where teams from Toledo can compete with teams from around the country," he said. "He died doing what he did best."
Mr. Khan lived with his wife, Yasmeen, in a home behind the carryout. They were married in Houston shortly after he moved from Pakistan, his brother said.
The couple first met as children in their native country.
"She was like 2 years old when he gave her a plastic ring. They were just playing. At that time we had traditional arranged marriages. So my mother and father immediately said, 'Why don't we just keep her in mind [for marriage]?' He promised to marry her, and he did," he said.
Mr. Khan, Dr. Butt, John Joseph, and Muhammad Shoib were the four enthusiasts who started the Greater Toledo Cricket Club about three years ago. Mr. Shoib said the group began with six people -- about half of the 11 players needed for a team, and grew quickly to more than 40 members who compete on three teams in the Michigan Cricket Association and the Great Lakes Cricket Association.
The team has won two straight national championships in the category in which it competes.
Mr. Shoib said he and Mr. Khan, although separated in age by about 10 years, became close friends after meeting during a cricket match five years ago.
"He and I shared the same passion for the game," said Mr. Shoib. "He was a man of many traits. If he was among kids he would become a kid himself. Among adults he would be a grown-up. Everybody could connect to him. He was so amazing in that he could connect to everyone."
Dr. Butt said his friend had had a previous heart attack and doctors inserted a device into his heart.
He said Mr. Khan was cautioned not to play cricket but that he adopted a physical therapy regimen to help him recuperate.
"He did that for a couple of years after the surgery. He had been playing regularly during the summer and also indoors during the winter," he said.
The cricket match on Sunday was the first time in two years that the club founders had gathered.
"He said that because all four of us were together on the same ground it was a blessed day that we got together," he said.
Surviving are his wife, Yasmeen Khan, daughter, Nidha Halepota, son, Zain Khan, mother, Zubaida Begum, brothers, Habib, Khalif, Zafar, Nasr, and Arif, sisters, Meher Imtiaz and Kausar Zahir, and two grandsons.
Services will be at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo in Perrysburg Township.
Arrangements are being handled by Witzler-Shank Funeral Home, Perrysburg.
Sponsored by Murthy Gokula.
16 Entries
He used to tell me, Doc I will take care of you and your kids as long as I am alive! He advised me, do something for the kids and the community so they will remember you. Never thought that he would leave us so quick, within hours, without any time for sorting out so many details. But it is true that we lost a very dear friend. Thank you Azmat for helping me always. Taimur Butt, MD
Taimur Butt
October 12, 2011
Khan Saab,
You are a True Man.Lived well for others to follow your dreams and aspirations.We are glad we got to know you.We wnat you to feel well with GOD floating in bliss while down here we continue to share your values and ideals to share among your family and friends.
You will remain for ever in our hearts.You are surely missed a lot.Still keep thinking you are around and I tried to call you.
So you are with us and we are with you.Keep showering the bliss and love from above .As always.
Love and regards,
MURTHY,JYOTHI,VEDALAYA
MURTHY GOKULA
October 11, 2011
"Azmat Bhai (brother) will be missed by us all...He was a great man and a wonderful human being. May God bless him place in Paradise...Amen"
Faisal Sultan (Greater Detroit Cricket Club)
Faisal Sultan
August 14, 2011
Ozz,
I will miss you so much. I always said you work my family cause I was one of the kids from the family at Sunshine Corners.
Kathy Ducat-Weber
August 10, 2011
To the Khan family, my sinceriest condolences for the sad demise of this great man. I had known Khan sahab from playing cricket over the years in the Michigan league, he was an extremely fair and honest man. I can't believe a man as physically and mentally fit as him would leave the world so adruptly. He was a true gentleman. I am heart broken.
Sameer Hussain
August 10, 2011
on the behalf of cleveland cricket club, i am sending all our condolences to family members.
pratik nikam
August 10, 2011
Ozzie, you were loved dearly. May you watch over your family from the heavens above. I never did thank you enough for all your support when Bob was ill. You will be missesd. Yasmeen our prayers are with you and your family in this time of grief.
Melissa Kirkum-Gilmer
August 10, 2011
We send our prayers to your family. Oz always had a smile on his face when we came in.
Aimee Manning
August 10, 2011
My sympathy to all of the Khan family. I am a friend of Nasr and Habib from years past.
Leon Marciniak
August 9, 2011
To the Khan family, my sincerest condolences. I used to board my horse near Oak Openings, and I made frequent stops at Sunshine Corners for trail supplies (Gatorade and sandwiches) as I'm sure my fellow boarders did and still do. May you find peace in the memories of your loved one.
Jeanne B
August 9, 2011
OZ, you will be missed by so many that knew you! May your family find comfort in your memories.
Amanda Castillo
August 9, 2011
sending my thoughts and prayers to your family today. Ozzie you will be greatly missed in the community ! we will miss you but will always keep your memory close to our hearts!
shawn and sally griffin
Marion (joanne) meister's daughter
Shawn & Sally Griffin
August 9, 2011
What moves through us is a silence, a quiet sadness, a longing for one more day, one more word, one more touch, we may not understand why you left this earth so soon, or why you left before we were ready to say good-bye, but little by little, we begin to remember not just that you died, but that you lived. And that your life gave us memories too beautiful to forget.
Syed Zafer
August 9, 2011
Dear Khan Saab,
You lived with a purpose and will be remembered as a caring person, a loving friend, a passionate cricketer, a helping hand, a proud father and much more. People like you are not born every day. You touched life of so many people and will live in their hearts for ever.
Good bye & God bless you and your family.
Muhammad Shoib
August 9, 2011
Khan saab, Toledo cricket will be forever indebted to you for all that you've done. You leave behind a huge gaping hole that is impossible to fill. God bless you and may your soul rest in peace. You will be in our hearts forever.
Ravi Patwardhan
August 9, 2011
August 9, 2011
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