‘God Took Him Away’

As dozens of male relatives carried his wooden casket, draped in a red, black and gold scarf, past the entrance to the Islamic cemetery in Anaheim, Fuad Memon’s 33-year-old widow wailed hoarsely in her grief.

“You left me, you left me,� Freba Memon said over and over in her native Persian, grieving for the father of her two daughters, the medical student who would soon have followed his father’s and brothers’ footsteps into medical practice, but for last Tuesday’s fatal crash of Singapore Airlines Flight 006 in Taiwan.

Fuad Memon, 34, of Aliso Viejo was among 81 passengers who died after the plane slammed into cranes and other materials on a runway closed for construction at Taiwan’s international airport. Memon wasn’t scheduled to fly back from Pakistan until the following day, but he had changed his plans and ended up on the fatal flight after one of his young daughters pleaded with him to return home.

Nine people from Orange County died in the crash. Memon’s body, encased in a sealed coffin, was the first to be returned.

On Sunday, about 150 relatives and friends gathered at Melrose Abbey Funeral Home and Memorial Park in Anaheim to remember the young man who was so devoted to his family and a career in medicine.

They tried to forget about the airline disaster. Instead, they focused on God’s calling--that Memon was a superb individual who had been taken to be with God.

“All his dreams came to an end,� said Ahmed Zia Yussuf, Memon’s brother-in-law. “However, as Muslims, we must submit to the will of Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aalaa. It is very hard for all of us to accept this loss.�

The son of doctor parents and brother to two doctors, Memon attended medical school in the Dominican Republic. He recently passed the medical board exam to qualify for a California license and was to have started his residency in family practice at UCI Medical Center in Orange in March. Relatives said he poured all his energy into passing the exam so he would be able to provide for his wife and daughters, Salmin, 4, and Farah, 2.

Most of Memon’s family and relatives live in Pakistan. Two brothers came from Pakistan for the services, and a third from Houston. His wife’s family also regarded him more as a brother or son, never an in-law, because that is the way he treated them, they said.

“He did everything right for his family in his life,� said Rahim Yakub, his brother-in-law. “That’s why God took him away from us.�

They recalled how Memon took his daughters to the neighborhood park or Disneyland each weekend after an early tennis match with his wife’s brother. He’d kiss and hug Freba each morning before he left for work and wouldn’t start dinner without her.

“He loved to spend time with them,� said Joanna Yakub, Memon’s sister-in-law. “His family was everything to him.�

After the two-hour ceremony, the widow and other female relatives were allowed to pray at Memon’s grave site. Freba Memon shook and cried as she poured holy water, or zam zam, on the roses and flowers laid on his grave.

“You studied so hard for nothing, just to go underground,� she sobbed, then fell into the arms of relatives. “I had planned to throw you a big party when you came back. I didn’t expect to bury you. You are a baby. I love you.�

The surprise party was to be held in December to celebrate his success on the medical exams, as well as both daughters’ birthdays and the couple’s seventh wedding anniversary.

Relatives said that Memon had left Orange County to attend his father’s funeral in Pakistan. When Freba took him to the airport, Fuad ran his fingers through his wife’s black hair and asked her to promise that if he wasn’t alive, she’d take care of his children so they too could become doctors.

Last Tuesday, Freba Memon missed work so she could prepare the children to pick up their father at Los Angeles International Airport. She discovered her husband was on the flight and at first was among eight on a list of missing passengers. But Singapore Airlines officials were very hopeful and positive, citing the number of dead or missing versus the number of passengers on board, said David Jamani, Memon’s cousin from Laguna Beach.

Jamani took the next Malaysia Airlines flight to Taiwan on Tuesday evening. He brought a bag of cookies and red vines, hoping to see Memon in the hospital there. Instead, Jamani was given a blood test and identified Memon from the belt and Calvin Klein buttons on his shirt.

“I’m mad at the pilot for taking off in such crappy weather,� he said Sunday. “Why? So many family’s lives have changed forever.�

Although angry, he did credit the airline company for admitting fault.

“We can’t still believe it was true,� Jamani said. “I just wanted to keep my eyes shut this morning, and want to believe it’s a dream.�

Singapore Airlines officials have announced that $400,000 compensation, in addition to the $25,000 immediate payout, would be provided to victims’ families.

But Memon’s relatives said it cannot replace him.

“Money will never make up for what we lost,� Rahim Yakub said. “It will not bring our valued brother back.�

Memon’s family is more concerned about the future of his widow, an assistant manager at a bank, and their children.

“This has devastated his family and their future,� Yakub said. “We’re worried who’s going to take the kids to school? How are we going to tell them that their father is not coming back?�