My Dad's Obituary, Altaf Alam (1946 ~ 2018)

Altaf Alam, 72, passed away peacefully during the night of May 27th, 2018. Altaf was battling stage 4 squamous cell carcinoma (a type of skin cancer) over the past year. After countless hospital visits, he remained strong and fought cancer right until his last gasp of breath. He was surrounded by all of his immediate family at the time of passing. All who knew him will forever miss him dearly.

Lahore, Pakistan

Early Life (1947 - 1969)

Altaf was born to Ishtiaq Alam and Halima Begum on January 13th, 1946, exactly one year before one of the largest migrations in human history. His father, Ishtiaq studied Law in Dehradun, India and was originally from Multan, Pakistan. His law degree helped in running his family owned business in Saharanpur, India where he lived with his step-brother. During this time more than 10 million people were displaced and more than a million were killed, as millions of people migrated due to partitioning of the subcontinent of India into two independent nation states. Despite the dangers of migration, Ishtiaq was convinced by his step-brother to migrate to West Pakistan via train and to settle in a majority Muslim state. He and his family was nearly killed as communities which coexisted for almost one thousand years when suddenly Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs attacked each other due to sectarian violence. Miraculously he and his family made it out of the chaos alive. He migrated to Lahore, Pakistan in 1947.

Ishtiaq's step-brother never migrated, so the family had to manage on their own without a lot of resources. Altaf, along with his siblings Nadeem, Imtiaz and Shaheen, lived in a house near Nicholson Road, Lahore. Lacking money and resources the family was forced to start all over again in a new city in which they had never lived before. Growing up, Altaf would work odd hours to sell dish-washing powder on his bicycle. He also attended school and spent plenty of time playing Cricket in Gymkhana, Lahore. He was an all rounder and played for his club, Universal Cricket Club, in Wazir Ali League Championship.

Altaf quickly realized that selling dish-washing powder and playing club Cricket wouldn't pay the bills. He always passionate to do more but had not performed well on his matriculation examinations and the only college that admitted him was Dyal Singh College in Lahore. The college was below par academically, but he didn't have much of a choice as his family was barely breaking even financially. He tried switching schools and joined the National College of Arts in Lahore, but was only able to study Architecture, a subject he hated; he wanted to study Mechanical Engineering. Upon realizing this was not his passion, and running out of options, he decided at the age of 24 to migrate to the United States for more opportunity.

San Francisco, CA

College Life (1969 - 1981)    

Altaf worked and saved some money and shortly thereafter migrated to pursue his dreams and make something of his life. He arrived in the United States and continued his education at Weber State College in Ogden, Utah. Prior to arriving in Utah he had a layover in England and stayed with some of his cousins who were living there at the time. He was tempted to stay in England since there was a lot of Cricket to be played, but he stuck to his dream of becoming an engineer. He chose to study Automotive Engineering, which was the closest thing to Mechanical Engineering at the time.

During his time at Weber State College, he fell in love with the Utah and its outdoors. He also developed a love for driving cars, as his interest grew with automotive engineering. He spent the 70s working odd jobs, and became a very good chef. He would travel, explore and work summer jobs all over Wyoming, Montana and Colorado. Apart from cars he gave up Cricket and started competing in Chess. He was so good at it in fact that he we would compete in Chess Championships at Weber State College (now Weber State University).

After graduating with an undergraduate degree he went to work directly with Larry H. Miller where he worked in the Service Department. Shortly thereafter he started graduate school at the University of Utah to further his education. While attending graduate school, Altaf was offered a job in Saudi Arabia as an Instructor & Consultant at Civil Defence Institute.

Altaf had many responsibilities and this new opportunity allowed him to comfortably provide both for his parents and for his children. Altaf’s parents introduced him to, Roobina Naseem, daughter of Naseem Khan. Roobina’s family was originally from Peshawar, Pakistan but lived most of her life in Lahore, Pakistan. Roobina was a strong-minded woman, and together Altaf and Roobina complemented each other and managed to build a loving home.

Altaf & Roobina (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia)

Mid Life (1981 - 2001)

Living in Riyadh Saudi Arabia, he lived in a gated-community where Roobina gave birth to four children; Zuhaib, Omar, Mariam and Ali, all of whom would become second generation American citizens. He continued to live in Saudi Arabia while spending winters and summers in Lahore, Pakistan. He always told his kids that they should aspire to settle in Utah and cheer for Utah Jazz.

Altaf was always willing to help those who were in need, whether financially or physically. Throughout his life, Altaf carried a heart that ached for the downtrodden. Throughout his life, he would never pass on an opportunity to lend a hand to the struggling soul. He helped his immediate and extended family members throughout his life, including providing residence for his in-laws in Garhi Shahu, Lahore and for his own parents in Gulberg, Lahore.

His acts of benevolence would also extend to his job. During the largest annual pilgrimage, the Hajj, Altaf would be stationed at the heart of the camp sites where millions of people would come from around the World to camp at a single location, Mecca, Saudi Arabia. His fire prevention initiatives helped save countless lives from fire accidents year after year. Altaf was a practicing Muslim. Having lived in multiple countries throughout his life, he didn’t associate with people for their ethnicity or race but rather for their heart and character. He strived to live by the American values of equality, diversity, democracy and unity.

He sent all of his kids to prestigious schools in Riyadh as he valued education. His sister Shaheen's son, Atif, followed his footsteps along with his sons Zuhaib and Omar and studied at Weber State University. Just when things were falling into place, the one thing that he had ignored was his health. This is what haunted him into retiring earlier than what he had originally planned. In 1992, his health began to go downhill, and he was diagnosed with diabetes. His mother was the first one to pass away, which added to his stress as she had severe diabetes as well. He also went through an open-heart surgery procedure due to a poor diet and high cholesterol levels. Several years later he lost his father, both of his brothers, one of whom, Nadeem, passed away also of cancer.

From Left: Imtiaz, Altaf, Ishtiaq & Nadeem (Lahore, Pakistan)

Retired Life (2001 - 2018)

After struggling and fighting heart disease and severe diabetes, his eyes were affected next due to severe diabetes. He suffered from retinal-detachment in both eyes and underwent multiple surgeries. He was forced to retire earlier than he wanted to as he was pronounced legally blind. This was a disability he had to live with throughout the remainder of his life. He gave up driving, which he enjoyed a lot, and for the first time in his life he was helpless and had to rely on others, especially his wife and primary care taker Roobina, who needless to say stood right there beside him. Roobina had to socially disengage herself to take care of him. Zuhaib and Omar learned how to drive at a young age and grew up quickly by taking on more responsibilities. Despite these extremely difficult times, Altaf managed to get back on his feet by being patient. The illnesses never stopped him from moving forward. He was resilient and had an enormous fight in him until the last round. In 2006, Altaf along with his family followed his sons Zuhaib and Omar and moved back to Utah. He bought a house after selling his house in Lahore and decided to spend the rest of his life in Utah. A cataract procedure brought back some light back into his life.

Last year, as he was enjoying retired life in his house in Draper, Utah, life had another surprise for him. This time it was an incurable diagnosis of stage 4 skin cancer. He had an extensive surgery at the Huntsman Cancer Institute followed by couple of heart strokes, extensive radiation sessions and too many hospital stays and visits for his liking. Mariam and Ali, his younger children, took immense responsibility during this time of taking care of Altaf, providing great assistance to their mother, Roobina. Roobina continued to stand right by him kept him alive much longer than the doctors had anticipated. The overload of caregiver stress did take a toll on her, but by now she had learned to stay strong and did everything she could to save him. Nevertheless, after a brief period of hope, Altaf relapsed. This time, he couldn’t fight anymore. Within one week of hospice, he returned peacefully on the night of 27th May, 2018.

Funeral (May 28, 2018)

Funeral services were held on Monday, May 28th, 2018 at 1 PM in Khadeeja Cemetery, 2516 S. Winton St, West Valley City, UT 84119. The burial services were provided by the Islamic Society of Greater Salt Lake in which hundreds of people attended to pay their respects to Altaf and provide comfort for his family.

The family pays gratitude to all friends, extended family, nurses, and doctors who cared for Altaf. The family also would like to personally thank the volunteers of the burial committee at the Islamic Society of Greater Salt Lake for all of their services during this difficult time for the family.