Syed Kader Ahmed

We announce with deep sorrow the passing of Dr. Syed Ahmed on September 1, 2025 at the age of 93.

Syed was born in the village of Kilakarai, Madras Presidency, British India on March 2, 1932. He graduated from Madras Medical College, University of Madras in August 1958. After coming to the United States in 1959, he completed his medical internship at The Brooklyn Hospital in June 1960; his residency in internal medicine at Waterbury Hospital in Waterbury, CT in June 1963; his fellowship in cardiology at the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn in June 1965; and his fellowship in pulmonary disease at the Downstate Medical Center in June 1967. During the period of his fellowships, he was Assistant Instructor in the Department of Medicine at Downstate Medical Center. He then practiced medicine briefly in Madras and underwent further training in London, Edinburgh, and Glasgow.

Syed moved to Chenango Bridge, where he lived for the rest of his life, to practice cardiology with the Chenango Bridge Medical Group in 1970. He eventually assumed the position of Clinical Cardiologist at United Health Services in Vestal, where he worked until his retirement from medicine in 2023, at the age of 91. He was also Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at the State University of New York Upstate Medical Center from 1981 forward. From 2016 until his passing, he worked as Disability Review Physician at the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance in Endicott.

Syed was known and loved by his patients for his gentle bedside manner and by family, friends, colleagues, and acquaintances for his charm, kindness, and self-effacing humor. He was an avid and magically successful vegetable gardener; a lover (and faithful feeder) of the animals (dogs, cats, cardinals, robins, blue jays, crows, ducks, and deer) that strayed onto his land; and, after the age of 90, a suddenly skilled chef of Indian cuisine. He cared deeply about US and global politics and the educational uplift of his community, especially women. He gave generously to many charitable causes; funded the higher education of even distant family members; and supported countless people in both the village of his birth and the village in which his father was born.

Syed is survived by his beloved wife of 66 years, Muthu Fathima Ahmed, his daughter Yashi Ahmed (Claudio Pikielny), his grandsons Adam Ahmed Pikielny and Noah Ahmed Pikielny, and his son Siraj Ahmed.

Syed was laid to rest at the Islamic Organization of the Southern Tier Cemetery, Johnson City, NY, on Thursday September 4, 2025. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Islamic Organization of The Southern Tier in his memory.