Page created by: Ramez Karkar

Dr. George Karkar of Baltimore peacefully passed away on August 6th, 2024 at the age of 80 after a 15+ year battle with Parkinson's disease. George leaves behind a loving wife, 3 kids and 4 grandchildren.

George was born in Jerusalem on September 3, 1943. He was a worldly man, going to school in Egypt for 12 years followed by Lebanon for his undergraduate at Birzeit University and medical school at the American University of Beirut where he built friendships that would last a lifetime and follow him to the United States. He learned French, English and Italian throughout his school years and was proud of his ability to communicate with people in different languages, missing French especially. After moving to Baltimore, Maryland in 1971 to begin his residency and start his medical practice, he met Hala Kishek in Ramallah, Palestine a few years later, fell in love and asked her to marry him. They married on July 6th, 1975 in Ramallah and she followed him to Baltimore, MD. Their first kid, Sami, was born in 1976, followed by their 2nd son, Ramez, and their daughter, Dina. Their marriage reached 49 years just a month before George's passing.

George was known for his love of family, medicine, church, tennis, chess, poker, parties, dancing and Arabic culture among other things. He treated thousands of patients in his lifetime and almost everyone would say to his kids "your dad saved my life" or "your dad is the best". He would take his kids on the weekends to the hospital to pay his respect to his patients that had been hospitalized and the patients would all speak so fondly of the doctor to his kids. George would then take the kids to the hospital gift shop to buy them candy as a reward for accompanying him, getting them Mentos, Lifesavers, Cheetos and Trident gum. Even Parkinson's couldn't stop Dr Karkar from working - he truly loved his job and continued to work past the early shakes of Parkinson's, at times asking patients for help holding medical tools so he could diagnose them properly and keep doing the job he loved.

His family will always remember the Ocean City family trips with steamed crabs, boardwalk strolls, ice cream, submarines and mini golf. As well as the visits from his numerous siblings across the world, especially Uncle Jack, an economics professor from Wisconsin, who taught the kids how to play poker and laugh extra loud.

George was passionate and fiery and charismatic - all packed into a 5'4" frame. Parkinson's calmed him down tremendously over the years, eventually making him motionless. That was painfully hard for his family and friends to witness and it tested the depths of their love for him. We all miss the fiery little man from 15 years ago, but with his passing we can now remember him for the life he instilled and not what he became in the end. A man of genuine life who loved saving other's lives. In the meantime, we invite you to share your fond memories of the Doctor as we continue to celebrate his life.