Dr. Ezzat Youssef, age 91, passed away on Friday, December 16, 2022. A long-time resident of Staten Island, he passed away in New Providence, NJ, where he had been a continuing care resident for the past three years.
Born in Zagazig, Egypt to Tewfik and Fahima Youssef, Ezzat had four siblings and he grew up in a devout and loving Coptic Orthodox Christian family. His calling was to pursue a career in medicine and after receiving his medical diploma from Ain Shams University in Cairo, he established a medical practice in Cairo. In 1968, Ezzat met his beloved wife, Farha, and they were married in 1969. Despite the success of Ezzat’s medical practice, Ezzat and Farha felt that immigrating to the US would provide the greatest degree of future opportunity for the family they hoped to build, and they emigrated to Providence, Rhode Island later in 1969. After moving to New York City, where he completed medical internship and residency programs, Ezzat joined the independent department of Radiation Oncology at Methodist Hospital in Brooklyn, NY, where he served as an Attending physician and ultimately the Vice Chairman of the Radiation Oncology department until his retirement in 1999. Over his career as a physician, Dr. Youssef was celebrated as a healer, educator, and humanitarian who was known for his compassionate demeanor and ability to provide comfort to his cancer patients.
Ezzat’s choice to retire from being a practicing physician in 1999 was driven by his desire to dedicate his time and his efforts in service to the Coptic Orthodox community. Soon after Ezzat moved to New York City, he became deeply involved with the recently-founded Coptic Orthodox Church of St George in Brooklyn. He promptly became a leader in the church and dedicated significant time and energy to helping develop a vibrant community of faith and growing a church that not only was a place of worship, but which became a centerpiece in the lives of many Coptic immigrants and their families and a pillar of support for many individuals and families in need. Upon retiring, Ezzat pursued service tirelessly, regularly visiting those in the Coptic community who were sick, hosting meetings to help provide guidance to younger couples, leading other meetings to bring together older parishioners, and providing assistance in numerous ways to countless people.
Above and beyond all else, however, Ezzat was a dedicated and committed husband, father, family man, and friend. Ezzat and Farha’s home became the central gathering place outside of Egypt for both of their large extended families. They were both warm and selfless hosts; members of the family and close family friends were frequently guests at their home, often for extended visits, and also often with little-to-no planning. Deep bonds across the entire extended family were built and developed over the course of the 42 years that they lived in the same house on Staten Island. Ezzat’s faith, kindness, generosity, humor, humility and wisdom made him a role model and father figure to many, and to his sons he was always a wonderful dad.
Ezzat is predeceased by his brothers Shawky, Raafat and Ragai, by his sister Aida, and by Farha, his loving wife of 51 years.
He is survived by his beloved son Albert and his wife, Lauren, of Westfield, NJ; beloved son Michael and his wife, Cheri, of Westfield, NJ; and by his grandchildren Nicholas, Zachary, Peter, Timothy and Anna.
A visitation for Ezzat will be held Thursday, December 22, 2022 from 4:30 PM to 8:30 PM at Casey Funeral Home, 350 Slosson Ave, Staten Island, NY 10314. The funeral service will occur Friday, December 23, 2022 at 10:15 AM at the Coptic Orthodox Church of St. George, 1105 67th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11219, followed by the burial at Rosedale Cemetery, 350 E Linden Avenue, Linden, NJ 07036. The funeral service will be livestreamed at
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNXU7ov1EqVFyABt31rXs3Q.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to the St. George & St. Abraam Coptic Relief Organization, a local charity that Ezzat was very involved with that helps Copts in need in Egypt. Memorial donations can be made at https://www.gacrogive.org/take-action and Ezzat’s name can be added to the donation form if “Write us a comment” is checked.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.caseyfuneralhome.com for the Youssef family.
Please view family photos provided from the family of Ezzat Youssef at:
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