Dr. Khan A. Mohabbat

Born: January 5, 1935

Date of Death: October 19, 2019

Khan was born near Kabul, Afghanistan to AllahMir and Ajay as the eldest son among ten children. After graduating high school early, Khan worked for a local radio station as a news announcer. Despite his family's wishes, Khan arrived in America in December 1955 on an Eisenhower era grant to attend the University of Denver where he graduated in 1959 with a B.A. in Economics. During his college years, he worked at Bill Benton and Bernard's clothing stores to send money to his family, maintaining support of them, and eventually all of his siblings and mother were able to move to America or Europe.

Khan attended Rutgers University and earned his M.A. in Economics before earning his Ph.D. in 1963 from The State University of New York at Buffalo.  Khan went on to teach as a part-time Professor at Buffalo until 1968, when he moved to DeKalb, Illinois, after accepting an offer to teach as a full-time and then as a tenured Professor at Northern Illinois University (NIU) from 1968 until his retirement in 2015.  Khan taught thousands of students in his 47 years at NIU, where he also served on various committees, advisory boards, and the University Council. There is no telling how many lives and paths he impacted.

Khan married Mitra Taefi on November 4, 1978, two months after the day they met. They have 2 sons, Amir born in 1980 and Arya born in 1982.  Khan was preceded in death by his parents, a brother, a sister, his in-laws, a cat he loved named Jason (1960s), a beloved family dog named Coco (2015) and many friends and colleagues. He is survived by his wife of almost 41 years, Mitra, who is so wonderful that an appropriate adjective hasn't yet been created, son Amir who has Khan's middle name, and son Arya (Nikita) who fulfilled his father's original academic wish of being a physician, along with 7 siblings and their respective spouses and relatives that number in the hundreds and are spread around the world.

Khan showed his love by motivating those around him to be a better version of themselves. Khan loved classical music, especially works by Beethoven, westerns, tending to his yard and garden, soccer, racquetball, tennis, ice hockey as a fan of the Chicago Blackhawks, and spending "quality time." He preferred the simple solution in all things and had a sweet tooth that he tried to deny. Proudly, he never lost to his sons in chess – though toward the later years maybe the sons made sure their dad didn't lose, but that's a different story for a different day.  And Khan idealized the notions of fair opportunity for all, academic discipline as a path to comfort and happiness gained from knowledge, physical fitness, and fitness of character.

When asked about death he would respond that great ones to have lived are on the other side, wherever that may be, and therefore death is not something to fear. Khan's comments give comfort to those who are blessed to have the honor of carrying his living legacy.  While we may not be able to make complete sense of death, or know why the system of life works the way it does, we can make sense of love. And Khan is loved.

The visitation will be on Tuesday, October 22, 2019, from 1 – 2pm at Finch Funeral Home, 310 Oak Street, DeKalb, followed by prayer at the Islamic Center of DeKalb, 801 Normal Road, DeKalb, and then burial at Fairview Park Cemetery, Arrangements were entrusted: Finch Funeral Home 310 Oak St. DeKalb, IL, 60115 (815) 758-3841.