Chahin Movses Chahbazian, MD

Chahin Movses Chahbazian, MD, (Chahé or Chah) passed away peacefully on Feb. 10, 2021, with family at his bedside. It was COVID-19 that took him from his adored family and friends. He was born in the Armenian Christian village of Kessab, Syria, on Nov. 17,1929, to Marie (Hekimian) and Movses Chahbazian.

Chahé earned his medical degree at American University of Beirut, Lebanon, in 1956, and then began a two year residency in radiation oncology in Colorado Springs at Penrose Cancer Hospital. He later became medical director of that exemplary training hospital, where he taught scores of doctors from around the world.

Chahé married Barbara Haddock in 1958 after an arranged meeting that her grandparents and his parents devised. It was love at first sight. They had three children, Arminée, Aram, and Massis, and eventually six grandchildren and a great-granddaughter.

The family moved to Orange County in 1974 to be closer to their families and relatives. Chahé practiced for some 30 years, helping hundreds of people with cancer.

He loved raising vegetables, going bird hunting, painting, and photography. He was a true gentleman, honest, generous, and dedicated to his family, his patients, and his staff. He retired to Bonsall and then Fallbrook in 1991, where he and Barbara were still living happily when this tragedy struck.

Services are pending the COVID-19 restrictions.